Above: The Indiana Gazette featured a large picture of the line of teachers picket on Friday's front page.
Teachers of Homer-Center High School did not report for work beginning on Friday, November 21. The official word came on November 18, after the negotiating team had negotiated for six-and-a-half hours in a last ditch effort to reach an agreement. The teachers have been working without a contract since August 30.
The teachers united at 7:30am, Friday November 21 to form a single picket line to show their united support for the strike. Teachers were on three hour picket shifts after this. The picket line is planned for all days that school would regularly be scheduled. Thanksgiving Day, November 28, and December 1 are scheduled days off and the teachers won't be picketing then. Thus, if the strike lasted only to the first week of December, only eight days of school would be missed.
Unfortunately, no new negotiations were planned at the time of this update. It appears that the teachers are willing to talk and negotiate, but for some reason the school board/district is not. The Homer-Center Education Association requested additional meetings between November 13 and November 18, but were denied. The teachers are willing to talk as soon as the district is.
The two major items of disagreement are retirement incentives and the teacher's health care plan. The negotiators for the teachers feel that the current plan will cost less than the new one proposed by the Board. Details have been very vague regarding the salary the teachers want. The term "fair and equitable" has been used throughout the negotiations, and specific figures are expected about mid-day November 25.
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