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Cleveland Heights Teachers Union, CH-UH Board of Education reach tentative agreement, avoiding strike

Despite the news, hundreds of educators showed up to strike outside of the district, Wednesday morning.

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The Cleveland Heights Teachers Union and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education have reached a tentative agreement Wednesday, avoiding a strike. 

The pending strike was a response to the district’s unilateral imposition of a new contract that slashes retirement and health benefits, costing many members $3,000-5,000 a year in losses, according to the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union (CHTU).

According to a press release issued this afternoon, the parties involved negotiated overnight and into the morning, before "agreeing on important compromises for the good of our students and community." 

500 educators in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District were prepared to take part in the strike, many of them showing up outside of the district early Wednesday morning--prior to news of the tentative agreement  being reached. 

3News' cameras were outside of the district this morning and streamed the strike live. You can watch video from the scene in the player below. 

The agreement also comes after the Board voted to strip healthcare benefits from striking teachers, counselors, nurses, and other school support professionals. 

“This outrageous move by our Board of Education is a heavy-handed attempt to quash our collective action by taking away our health insurance during the peak of a global pandemic,” CHTU President Karen Rego said. “We made the hard decision to plan for a strike to protect the quality health insurance that we have gained over the years by forgoing wage increases, and now the district is seeking to punish us by eliminating our healthcare altogether.” 

The school district  noted that employees are eligible to continue their health benefits through COBRA during the strike, but will be responsible for paying for the coverage

While the terms of the contract have been agreed upon, it has not yet finalized. It will now head to the Union and its members for a ratification vote and to the Board of Education for approval. 

"Above all else, we are relieved that our teachers will be exactly where they’re needed - with their students," the release said. 

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