By Robbie Ward, thetimes-tribune.com

In a landslide vote, the North Pocono teachers union agreed Wednesday night to authorize a strike as they seek a new contract.

At a general membership meeting, the North Pocono Education Association voted 173-1 to authorize a strike but no date has been set.

“North Pocono teachers are one of the few districts in the state that have never had a labor dispute that resulted in a strike,” NPEA President Jeanne Yazinski wrote in a statement emailed to The Times-Tribune. “All we are asking for is a reasonable salary schedule.”

Also in the statement, the union president said teachers had taken a “two-year freeze” and have worked without a contract since July.

In the email with the statement about the union vote, Ms. Yazinski said she was not available to speak and referred comments to a regional union representative of the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/north-pocono-teacher