Deadlines approach in Streator Elementary teachers, support staff contract negotiations

Collective bargaining continues between Streator Elementary School District 44 and the Streator Education Association; however, some deadlines are approaching.

The next negotiation date is Wednesday, March 12.

The teachers and support staff union voted in January to start the 45-day clock on a potential strike. After the Feb. 18 negotiation session between the district and union, the SEA initiated the public posting process, which is a prerequisite to a strike. As part of this process, the association and the board were required to submit their public posting documents to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.

Both sides' offers can be found at shorturl.at/NMvUD.

The earliest a strike can begin is March 19. The SEA said it’s prepared to do so if necessary, but it continues to focus on bargaining, SEA co-Presidents Liz Starkey, Nicole Murphy and Desi Johnson said.

Board President Angela Risley said negotiations will continue during this new phase.

“We are currently attempting to schedule an additional mediation session with the federal mediator; however, the association has indicated that they will not be ready with a response to our last proposal by March 7, despite having the board’s last proposal in hand since Feb. 27,” Risley said.

The association believes the district is regressive bargaining, which is when an entity begins offering less than what’s been on the table.

“The board’s salary schedule proposal for support staff contains steps [based on years of service], and now the board is regressive bargaining by saying it’s just a starting point for this year, and there will be no horizontal movement, meaning their pay will not move,” the association’s leadership said.

Salary remains an issue. Certified staff are asking for a raise on the base salary schedule. The board wants to issue raises for years of service “using coded language that erodes the existing salary schedule,” the association’s leadership said.

The union also is fighting to restore health care to support staff, as 100% of its support staff had health care benefits 10 years ago. The association said the board’s spokesperson is threatening cuts to the number of support staff if health care is offered.

For its part, the board said it increased its previous offer of pay increases from 5.5%, 5.5% and 5.5% to 6%, 5.75% and 5.5% in each year of a proposed three-year contract. The board’s proposal on support staff results in an average increase of $5 per hour on employees’ hourly wage, and in the last two years of the contract, they would receive increases of 4.25% and 4%, respectively. For some employees, this represents a 46% increase in their base hourly wage, Risley said.

For insurance, the board maintained its offer of decreasing the years of service necessary for support staff to become eligible for full-time status and receive the attendant health insurance benefits from 12 years of continuous service to 10 years of continuous service. The association continues to push for all part-time staff members – 78 of them– to move to full-time status and to have the same insurance. For the association’s proposal, the additional cost of insurance is $911,196, Risley said.

“The board deeply respects and appreciate the contributions and commitment of our high-quality, dedicated teachers and staff,” Risley said. “We are seeking a contract that continues to attract and retain great educators and educational support personnel, and compensates them well at every level of their career. Throughout the negotiations, the board has offered millions of dollars more than where we both started in hopes of reaching an agreement sooner.

“We take seriously our responsibility to be thoughtful and deliberate in developing a contract agreement that meets the needs of our staff and our community.”

The union said it has dropped specific proposals to educational incentives to move negotiations forward.