Catholic high school teachers work out tentative deal with Philly Archdiocese

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The Archdiocese of Philadelphia and its unionized high school teachers have struck a tentative deal.

Teachers at the 17 archdiocese high schools in the city and suburbs have been working under a one-year contract extension since May of 2014.

Rita Schwartz, who heads the union representing the teachers, said Friday it’s not a done deal.

“We still have the teachers who voted a deal down a few weeks ago,” she said. “We have to see if this is what they want.”

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The next step is to work out a time and place for a meeting, Schwartz said, a tough task since school is out for the summer.

The archdiocese issued a statement saying that,  if ratified, the contract would take effect  Sept. 1, which would mean labor peace just as Pope Francis comes to town.

The Catholic school teachers last struck for two weeks in 2011, winning a pay raise of about 8 percent.

About 13,000 students attend the archdiocese’s 17 high schools in the five-county region.

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