West Chicago High negotiators returning to the bargaining table after holiday break
Bargaining teams - under growing pressure to resolve a bitter contract dispute between West Chicago High School District 94 and its teachers union - will return to the table next week for the first of four scheduled sessions this month.
After a quiet holiday break, negotiators are ramping up for talks to resume with a federal mediator. The school board is expected to respond to the union's latest offer with a full contract proposal of its own Jan. 9.
But both sides are apparently losing patience as negotiations approach the two-year mark with no end in sight to disagreements over teacher pay, health benefits and other sticking points. The board and the West Chicago High School Teachers Association - the union that represents 141 district employees - started preliminary discussions in April 2016 and have been exchanging proposals since last April.
While the possibility of a strike has not been "actively discussed or actively considered" with teachers, association leaders are not ruling it out either as a "last resort" if the two sides are unable to reach a settlement, union President Brad Larson said.
"I want to reiterate though that our desire is to settle the contract without going down that road if at all possible," Larson said.
Late last month, the association revealed members had passed a vote of "no confidence" in school board President Gary Saake. The resolution urged school board members to hold a public hearing for the purpose of reorganizing the panel and electing a new board president, citing Saake's "divisive presence" on the panel and other complaints.
At the time, teachers also formally expressed support for union negotiators.
"The association membership has shown that they have a very high degree of confidence in what the bargaining team has done so far," Larson said.
Saake has dismissed the resolution against him, saying it's insulting to the other board members who "make their own decisions."
"It's not about me. It's about the students," Saake said. "We're trying to get to a contract agreement, and I don't think things like that are helpful for the process."
The two sides also have been unable to agree on the length of a deal. The union's latest proposal calls for a five-year contract; the school board has been pushing for a three-year deal.
The board also has presented "a conceptual model" to address the rising cost of health insurance. It calls for bringing in an outside consultant to review the district's health insurance coverage and recommend changes that could be used to lower the cost of premiums.
When asked about that approach, Larson said the union is open to "looking at different strategies."
"At the same time, we also want to maintain the level of coverage and the level of benefits that our members receive," he said.
Teachers have been working under the terms of their old contract since it expired Aug. 13.
Additional meetings with the mediator are scheduled for Jan. 16, 22 and 30.