U-46 union prepared for next negotiating session

About half of the Elgin Area School District U-46 union members who took part in the first round of contract negotiations will take a second stab at reaching an acceptable deal, Elgin Teachers Association President Tim Davis said Thursday.

Union leaders on Wednesday approved one nine-person bargaining team, consisting of members of the original two teams.

On Monday, U-46 teachers rejected a contract proposal reached after nearly a year of negotiations between the district and the state's second-largest teachers union.

Davis declined to name who opted to bargain again but said all members of both the evaluation and comprehensive teams were invited to return and form a single bargaining unit.

Elgin High School environmental science teacher Deb Perryman said that after more than 100 hours spent negotiating, she's ready to surrender her seat at the bargaining table.

"A lot of us are going to resign (from the team) because we did everything we could do," said Perryman, who helped craft the new evaluation tool for teachers. "Why would you want to send the same team in that just negotiated something people are not happy with?"

Perryman said she was proud of the evaluation system the team created, but disheartened by the response of some union members.

"I spent a lot of time being hurt," Perryman said. "We worked really hard with teachers in mind, trying to create a system that's really good."

Distrust of the school board and administration has, for some teachers, spilled over into distrust for union leadership, Perryman said.

"No questions, there's a lot of distrust, even a lot of distrust for union people," Perryman said. "It's hard to hear people say, 'You designed something to make the administration happy.'"

Other members of the original team were happy to sign up for another round.

"I'm a union member, and I'm happy and proud to carry on in whatever capacity I can," said Central School teacher Hans Steihl, who was part of the comprehensive team.

"Some of my co-workers have said, 'What now? What's next?' and I have no idea."

Davis, who met with district officials Thursday morning to update them on next steps, said negotiations will resume once union leaders survey members to pinpoint the root of their dissatisfaction.

"We want to know not only why they voted 'no,' but why they voted 'yes,' " Davis said.

With 91 percent of teachers weighing in by secret ballot, 1,183, or 51.3 percent, voted against the three-year deal, and 1,125, or 48.7 percent, voted for the pact.