District 25 approves new contract with maintenance workers

Facilities and maintenance workers in Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 will get raises averaging 2 percent to 3 percent over the course of a new five-year contract approved Thursday.

The agreement between the school board and Service Employees International Union Local 73 eliminates the current salary schedule's five to eight steps for new hires beginning July 1, instead setting salary ranges that give management more flexibility on pay. Employees off the schedule will get 2 percent raises ever year, while those currently on it will get 3 percent increases. Part-timers will get 2 percent. The agreement, which runs through June 2023, also changed language that overtime may be required.

Negotiations started last fall and took six bargaining sessions to complete.