District 211 support staff won't sympathy strike

If teachers in Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 go on strike, will other unions honor their picket lines?

With teachers poised to walk out Thursday if there's not a salary agreement, it appears employees who are members of at least one other union in the district will be reporting to work to avoid violating terms of their contract.

Even though the district's student supervisor and clerical union is currently able to negotiate salary increases for the final year of its contract -- just as the teachers currently are doing -- its members will not be joining the teachers on strike.

According to the United Support Staff Council, the union that represents the student supervisors and clerical workers, members are under contract, and by law can not walk off the job.

The situation may be different, however, with construction workers currently working on four of the five schools in the district.

Unionized construction workers have been known to refuse to cross other unions' picket lines, and there's been speculation that could happen here.

Superintendent Roger Thornton said those concerns will not have an impact on the negotiations.

"Certainly that's a decision that they would all make," Thornton said. "It could have some impact on construction; it might not. "

Officials with Arcon and Associates, which is in charge of the construction projects in the district, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Lynnette Sculuca, a field service director for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, said support staff members cannot strike.

In a notice posted on the union's Web site, support staff union members were told to come to work as normal if a strike should occur.

"We must report to work or be subject to disciplinary actions from the administration," the Web site states. "The teacher's union is aware of our legal position and knows that we must cross the picket line."

Judy Zajac, president of the District 211 support staff union, said she had no comment other than, "we support the teachers 100 percent."

David Torres, associate superintendent for business in District 211, said last year the support staff union received a 2 percent base-salary increase, as well as step and lane increases.

Support staff are on the same contract cycle as the teachers and received the same salary increases as them the past two years, Sculuca said.

Once the teacher's contract has been settled, Torres and Sculuca said negotiations with support staff will begin. The current deal expires in June.

On its Web site, the support staff union is letting its members know there are other ways to show support for the teachers besides not showing up for work.

"Our union can use subordinate actions, such as wearing buttons," the Web site states. "We can show support by joining the picket line when we are not working."

Sculuca said she fully expects members of the union to join the teachers on the picket line both before and after the school day.

The other major union group in the district, the operations and maintenance union, has a deal in place through 2010, Torres said.

Representatives of the operations and maintenance group could not be reached for comment Friday.

The group, which was formed earlier this year, is receiving base-pay increases of 3.4 percent this year, 2.5 percent next year and 2.5 percent in 2009-10, Torres said. The group also is receiving lump sum payments of 0.75 percent this year, 1.25 percent next year and 1.1 percent in final year of the deal.

According to the district, the increases are tied into the Consumer Price Index, which is expected to rise 3.4 percent this year and 2.5 percent next year.

The lump sum payments are based on savings the district has garnered since putting health insurance cost controls into place in 2005.

Information on the status of negotiations is on the school district Web site www.d211.org and the union site il.aft.org/012110.