Educators and their supporters gathered at Ithaca High School after class on Tuesday for a “practice picket” demonstration.
The Ithaca Teachers Association is currently negotiating a new contract with the Ithaca City School District. Their old contract is set to expire at the end of June. The union represents around 600 educators.
Kathryn Cernera is the president of the union. She said a practice picket is like a fire drill.
“We do them in schools all the time. We hope to never have to use them, but we want to be prepared in case we do.”
Cernera said the union is still negotiating on salaries, healthcare for domestic partners, family leave and artificial intelligence regulations. They have one scheduled bargaining session left on Thursday.
“June 12 is an absolutely key date, because even if we reach a tentative agreement on that day, the agreement still needs to be voted on by our members,” Cernera said.
She said it would take around two weeks for a contract to be voted on.
“Our school year ends on June 27. So for us, it is a critical date,” she said. “If we do not reach a tentative agreement this Thursday, it is highly likely that our contract will expire.”
Union members continued their demonstration outside of the building where school board members were meeting.
The Ithaca City School District did not respond to requests for comment in time for this report.