A look back: Jan. 22, 1979

Tamaqua Area School District service personnel officially went on strike today, picketing at least four ward schools in the district. Contract talks between the union and the board of education have continued for more than a year with 12 formal meetings held between the parties.

The 57 members, who include maintenance, janitorial, secretarial and cafeteria workers, and federal program aides, have been working since June 30, the expiration date of the pact the union had with the district.

They have rejected the district’s latest offer of 26 and 30 cents per hour raises in the first and second years of a proposed pact that would rank in the top three of the 13 districts within the intermediate unit in Schuylkill.