
BENNINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Vermont's Commissioner of Labor has given a school district 30 days to give back pay to teachers who ratified a new contract following a nine-day strike last fall.
The union representing more than 300 teachers in southwest Vermont filed a complaint in December saying the district had not paid them the difference between what they were paid under a previous board-imposed contract and the new one, retroactive to July 1, 2011.
The Bennington Banner reports Commissioner Annie Noonan issued an order Friday saying the teachers are entitled to the back pay.
School officials have said they do not owe the teachers any additional money. The district said it chose to pay teachers before they completed any work days after Tropical Storm Irene delayed the start of the school year.
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