NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Association of School Employees union has voted to go work-to-rule starting Monday, the latest sign of ongoing strain over the status of the school district in the city.

According to NASE President Andrea Egitto, around 70% of all union members in Northampton Public Schools, which includes custodial and clerical employees alongside teachers and educational staff, voted in the decision to enter work-to-rule, with 98% of those favoring the idea. Unlike a strike, where employees stop work entirely, a work-to-rule means that employees cease any voluntary work not strictly required by the terms of their contract.

“The amount of work that all our staff do that is outside of our collective bargaining agreement is quite a lot,” Egitto said in an interview with the Gazette. “What we’re basically saying is, if the mayor and the City Council aren’t going to respect the work of these professionals giving their blood, sweat and tears to students and families every day, we’re not able to continue to do that.”

Egitto said the vote was brought on by slow-moving contract negotiations, ongoing since November, and by Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra’s approach toward funding the school budget. The budget for the current fiscal year led to staff cuts, and Superintendent Portia Bonner has signaled a further reduction of services as a result of next year’s proposed budget for the schools.

“The negotiations are moving at a snail’s pace, because of the mayor’s allocations,” Egitto said. “I think that if the [staffing] cuts that happened last year and are projected to happen this year were not happening, we probably would have a little bit more patience.”

Ward 3 School Committee member Emily Serafy-Cox, who chairs the negotiating committee that bargains with NASE, described the process for obtaining the new contract as “collaborative and positive,” but acknowledged that the budget controversy had constrained negotiations.

“I agree that the budget puts everyone in a really tough position,” Serafy-Cox said. “If we have limited funds, we have to make decisions about either falling behind on wages, or putting a crunch on the side of more cuts, and that’s not what the School Committee wants.”

Egitto said that the union is negotiating for several items, including wage increases, added paid parental leave and the ability for clerical workers, such as school secretaries, to work remotely in the event of inclement weather.

Though Bonner has previously stated that the increase in school spending by the city this year would be enough to prevent layoffs, it would still lead to the elimination of some positions by means of attrition, not hiring for positions left vacant by retirement. Egitto said that could have an adverse effect on clerical workers, with secretaries at Leeds and Ryan Road Elementary schools retiring this year.

“The remaining clerical members are going to be doing double the work and not getting a cost-of-living increase that would even come close to inflation,” Egitto said. “We need more staffing, not less.”

NASE has been highly active in advocating for greater school spending by the city, alongside public advocacy group Support Our Schools. A political action committee bearing the Support Our Schools has also raised more than $20,000, pledging to support candidates that support increasing school spending. In June, NASE also gave a vote of no confidence in the superintendent to manage and advocate for the Northampton Public Schools, though the School Committee reaffirmed its support for Bonner in response.

NASE is unique among school unions in the state in that it represents employees at both NPS and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School. But Egitto said the work-to-rule would only apply to NPS employees, and would continue until a new contract is reached between the School Committee and NASE.

“The School Committee is continuing to meet with us, and I believe they want to do the right thing,” Egitto said. “But there’s only so much the school committee can bargain with when the mayor is the chair of the committee and is also refusing to allocate appropriate funds.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.