Willing to strike?

LIMA — At midnight, the strike deadline would pass. A few hours later, Lima schools classified staff would have been at their assigned picketing spots.

But with an hour to go, the two sides narrowly avoided a strike.

“We were totally organized and ready to go,” union President Sandy Wheeler remembered of the 2002 ordeal. “I was sure we were going out the next day. I did not think they would ever compromise with us and give us what we needed.”

The threat of a teacher strike still looms in Wapakoneta, just as it did in 2009. In both instances, teachers gave the negotiating team the authority to issue a 10-day strike notice. The two sides settled in 2009 before a strike notice was given. Teachers have not yet filed notice this time and have not negotiated as of late.

The Lima News' archives show that you have to go back 30-plus years to find an education union that actually hit the picket lines. Shawnee schools teachers went on in 1978, the strike beginning on the first day of school and lasting just more than a week.

There were a rash of teacher strikes in Ohio in the late 1960s and 1970s, said John Berg, chairman of the education department at Ohio Northern University.

“That period of time, there was a lot of unrest, period, particularly in the early 1970s,” he said.

There have been no area strikes in education in recent years. It doesn't surprise Berg.

“I think the times have changed since then. In the '70s, there was that general feeling of unrest and suspicion of any authority,” he said. “That is not there now, at least to the degree that it was at that point and time.”

Many during that time came out of strikes wondering if it had been worth it, Berg said. This was especially true in small communities.

“There have been times when strikes have torn a community apart, at least for a while. I think cooler heads have wondered was it worth that,” he said. “Especially in a small communities. You have people involved in both sides, so it takes on a much more deeper, personal meaning.”

The last 10 years have been filled with lots of tough negotiations, visits from federal mediators and rejected offers. Here are a few that included talk of strike.

• Ada schools, 2002: Teachers voted to strike but then reached a deal.

• Ottoville schools, 2003: Teachers filed intent to strike but reached deal a few days later.

• Lima schools, 2004: Teachers gave union authority to file strike notice. Teachers approved deal. If they had not, intent to strike would have been issued.

• Upper Scioto Valley schools, 2005: Classified employees agreed to strike vote, but then struck deal.

• Wapakoneta, 2009: Teachers authorized negotiators to issue strike notice and opened strike headquarters. Deal struck before strike notice filed.

The closest to strike was by far the Lima classified staff in 2002. The issue, Wheeler said, was whether to give food service workers health insurance. The union's state executive came to town in the final hours and got a deal. While employees were committed and ready to walk, Wheeler said it was still tough.

“It was very scary. It was cold. The holidays were not that far away,” she said. “It was very scary, but they were going to do it.”

The union hasn't had a negotiation with that much contention since. Wheeler believes that while the administration is different today and the two have a much better relationship, officials still know the union isn't afraid to strike. Berg, who previously served as a school administrator who worked with negotiations, said in the back of an administrator's mind is always the possibility of a strike.

Wheeler believes boards and administrators don't want the chaos a strike inevitably brings, so they want to work out a deal. Wapakoneta officials say school will go on even in the event of a strike. Wheeler said it's not that easy. Lima officials had said the same, but in the days before the strike deadline began wondering if a few days might get interrupted.

While people's personal finances play a part in the unwillingness to strike, Berg believes the bigger pull is the overall impact and the role educators play in the community.

“I think they are hesitant to take that step because it is such a big step. They understand that there is lots of hurt and harm and unhappiness and ill feelings that comes out of a strike, so they are not anxious to do that,” he said. “I think we have to bear in mind also that most teachers see their role in the community as being a positive influence, so there is just not that quick willingness to pull that trigger.”