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ST. LOUIS — Teachers in five Catholic high schools say they are running out of time to resolve a union contract dispute with the Archdiocese of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

“We’ve had enough dialogue. We need negotiations. All they’ve shown us is they’re going to bust the union,â€� said Kathryn Williams-Heese, a teacher at Bishop DuBourg High School and president of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Archdiocesan Teachers Association.

The teachers have not eliminated the possibility of a strike, Williams-Heese said.

“We do not have a confirmation from the archdiocese that they are willing to negotiate, and we are planning accordingly,� she said.

Public school teachers in Missouri are restricted from striking, but teachers at private schools are not covered by that law.

The 50-year-old union represents 120 teachers at Bishop DuBourg, Cardinal Ritter, Rosati-Kain and St. Mary’s high schools in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and St. Pius X in Festus. About 60 teachers and supporters gathered Sunday to pray before Mass at the Cathedral Basilica on Lindell Boulevard in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

Negotiations for a new three-year contract started in October, well before the existing contract expired March 4. Five days later, more than 90% of the 120 teachers voted down the archdiocese’s final contract offer, which allowed for some pay raises but struck grievance and seniority protections.

The archdiocese has handed out individual at-will contracts to teachers with a deadline to sign by April 1, when the jobs are to be posted for applicants. None of the contracts has been signed.

Archdiocesan leaders are disappointed in the teachers’ refusal to accept the final contract offer, according to a letter to teachers sent March 9 from Todd Sweda, superintendent for secondary education.

“You make the mission of Catholic education come alive for the young people entrusted to us. Thank you for your commitment and perseverance, particularly during the last couple of years as we navigated COVID successfully. You are valued and we are grateful,� reads the letter.

The contract standoff comes as the archdiocese is planning a major reorganization that could lead to dozens of Catholic school closures in the next few years. The Rev. Chris Martin, who is leading the �All Things New� project, said one of the top goals is addressing low teacher salaries as a social justice issue.

Starting teacher salaries in the union would move to $33,000 a year from $30,387 under the archdiocese’s last contract proposal. Teachers with a master’s degree and the equivalent of 10 years of experience would get $41,599 a year, up from $36,646. However, more experienced teachers at the top of the scale with a master’s degree would see a pay cut to $56,750 from $64,070.

The proposed pay scale is the “most forward-thinking and aggressive approach to compensation in the past two decades,� reads the letter from the superintendent.

Williams-Heese said teachers could be “the first victims� of the reorganization, because the final contract offer from the archdiocese eliminated job placement protection for teachers in the event of a school closure.

“All Catholic high school teachers understand they make less money than everybody else,� she said. “The archdiocese has said ‘you will make a little more money but you’re going to do it as indentured servants without protections of the union.’�

Teachers said unionizing aligns with Catholic teachings, pointing to speeches and writings from the Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected — the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative,� reads the conference’s Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers.