Strike ends in Morgan Local School District as union and board reach agreement

MORGAN COUNTY, Ohio (WTAP) - The strike that has persisted in the Morgan Local school district since the beginning of March is coming to an end.

A release from superintendent Kristen Barker said that the school board and the OAPSE Local 51 union came to a raise agreement of 6%, 4%, and 4% over the next three years.

The contract was approved by the school board in an emergency meeting Sunday.

The striking workers, among them bus drivers, cooks, secretaries and other non-teaching staff, will return to work Monday.

WTAP spoke with union president Tom Quaintance about the negotiations and the strike coming to an end.

He said he and his fellow employees are glad that they’ll be able to return to work. “We miss the kids,” he said. “I mean, they’re our kids. A lot of them, I saw them when they came to kindergarten and now they’re going through high school. It’ll be good to get back to see them, get back to normal.”

Quaintance said although the raise they’re receiving is less than the 6%-5%-5% that the union hoped for over the next three years, be believes the strike helped get them closer to that goal.

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