The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers made picket signs on Wednesday in anticipation of a possible strike if a deal is not reached by the end of the month.

The union, which represents 14,000 employees for the Philadelphia School District, says it wants to avoid a strike and reach at least a tentative deal before the school year begins on Aug. 25.

However, the union also says that reaching a deal is at the hands of the city, who they accuse of not showing urgency ahead of an Aug. 31 deadline for a new deal.

Members of the union approved a strike authorization by a vote of 94% to 6% in June.

The union says they are asking for competitive salaries that will: 1) compensate teachers for their work on getting test scores and graduation rates up and 2) increase retention rates.

The current contract with the union is a one-year deal that provided a 5% raise to members.

“Wages, I would say, are the most important issue,” said PFT President Arthur Steinberg. “But I want the public to be aware that we are also pushing for issues that will help our members even better than they do now. Which, as far as I’m concerned, is really off the charts.”

The school district told NBC10 that they cannot comment on the details of the negotiations, but said, “The School District of Philadelphia highly values its teachers and support staff and continues to actively participate in conversations with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and engage in good faith negotiations with the hope of securing a new contract as soon as possible.”

“More than 50 years of research shows that the single most important factor in student academic growth is a highly qualified, well-supported and stable teacher as well as principal over time. We look forward to working with the PFT on a proposal that honors the hard work of our educators. As we approach the expiration of the current contract, we’re optimistic that we can reach an agreement with PFT that serves our students, our staff, and our families.”

Negotiations between the two sides will resume on Thursday, Aug. 7.

CORRECTION: This article previously stated that PFT represented 1,400 employees, but was corrected to say that represents 14,000 employees.