Philadelphia Federation of Teachers members vote in favor of strike authorization

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Members of the Philadelphia School District's largest union have voted to give the executive board the power to call a strike, if and when they think it's warranted.

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers represents 14,000 teachers, school nurses, counselors, and other workers.

A total of 94 percent of them voted in favor of a strike authorization.

What this means is that the majority of PFT's membership wanted to give negotiators more leverage when bargaining their contract, which expires on August 31.

This does not mean that PFT members are currently on strike.

PFT's president said in a statement that they've made progress toward an agreement, but said the district has been slower to meet halfway on their key demands.

On the table: parental leave for members, smaller class sizes, and ending a controversial sick-day policy that, they say, penalizes teachers from taking their contractually earned sick time.

The Philadelphia School District tells us they continue to negotiate with PFT and are optimistic that the two will reach an agreement.