Teachers Strike Enters 8th Day in West Virginia as Senate Passes Wrong Pay Raise Bill

A state education union leader said Sunday that union leaders are “exploring all avenues” — which could include legal action — after the state Senate mistakenly passed the wrong public employee pay raise bill Saturday.

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A state education union leader said Sunday that union leaders are “exploring all avenues” — which could include legal action — after the state Senate mistakenly passed the wrong public employee pay raise bill Saturday.

Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, said during a forum at Ripley High School Sunday that while he “can’t go into it, [union leaders] are exploring all avenues that [they] have in this.”

The Senate Finance Committee took up a pay raise bill that had been previously passed by the House. During the committee meeting Saturday evening, members reduced the pay increase for teachers, school service workers and State Police troopers from 5 percent to 4 percent.

Later that evening, the Senate mistakenly passed the House version of the bill with the 5 percent raise, as opposed to the 4 percent version sent to the Senate from committee.

House members wouldn’t agree to that change, and both sides appointed three members to a conference committee, which will try to hash out the differences on the bill.

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Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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