Catholic teachers plan strike Tues.

NEW YORK The Lay Faculty Association, which represents 450 teachers at 10 schools in New York City and its northern suburbs, said Monday that its mediator was presenting the archdiocese with a new proposal that calls for a three-year contract instead of four.

Union spokesman Henry Kielkucki said if the union can't reach a settlement Monday, picket lines will go up at 7 a.m. Tuesday - three days before Pope Benedict XVI is to visit New York City.

On Friday, the archdiocese announced that the larger of the two unions, the Federation of Catholic Teachers, had agreed to a four-year contract.