Dist. 158 teachers say they'll strike Monday if no deal is reached

After seven months of failed negotiations, teachers in Huntley Unit District 158 said Thursday they plan to go on strike Monday -- if a deal can't be reached before then.

Union leaders said the board had not yet offered teachers a fair contract.

After Thursday's announcement, board members called the Huntley Education Association hypocritical because union leaders had made repeated pledges that they would not call a strike as long as the board continued to negotiate.

"With meetings scheduled and a promise that the HEA wouldn't go on strike if the board kept negotiating, it's extremely disappointing," board member Larry Snow said. "They broke their promise."

Board Vice President Tony Quagliano accused union leaders of misleading teachers to encourage a strike vote.

"It's shameful that union leadership would wage a campaign of misinformation to convince their membership to potentially strike," Quagliano said. "This isn't a game. A strike affects everyone in a negative way, and there is no reason we should be at this stage yet."

But union leaders said that although the sides have continued to meet, the board hasn't budged an inch from its "last, best and final" offer.

"There hasn't been any movement," union spokeswoman Britt Crowe said.

The announcement came one day after the first sign of progress in teacher contract talks and one day after teachers received their first paycheck, board members said. The District 158 school board on Wednesday announced it was willing to sign off on some contract items that both sides had agreed on.

But the crux of the contract dispute -- economic items like salary, health insurance and pension contributions -- remains unresolved.

Board members have accused the union of advancing overgenerous compensation packages for teachers that would push the district into a deficit and raise the possibility of a referendum -- four years after a controversial and mismanaged tax increase.

The union leadership has accused the district of accumulating large surpluses by denying the district's teachers compensation on par with other suburban school districts.

The school board and the teachers union, which have been meeting since February, are scheduled to meet again Sunday afternoon, after a rally planned for teachers outside the district's administration building.

"Teachers are prepared to negotiate in a last-ditch meeting to keep schools open," Crowe said. "We hope to be in school on Monday."

But the chances that the board and the union will reach a deal Sunday appear slim.

The sides have yet to agree to a single contract item, and there is still a wide gulf between the cost of the latest proposals.

Board members have said the union's proposal would cost $400,000 more than the district's contract offer in the first year and $4.25 million more over three years.

"There won't be any agreement Sunday," Superintendent John Burkey said after Thursday's announcement.

The union's announcement came at the beginning of Thursday's school board meeting.

Dozens of District 158 teachers, wearing green "HEA works for me!" T-shirts, poured into the board room just minutes before 7 p.m., when Thursday's building committee meeting was scheduled to start.

Just before the meeting began, teachers handed written notice of their intent to strike to the superintendent and the five board members who were present.

Teachers who could not fit in the board room stood outside the administration building, looking in through the window.

About 10 minutes into the meeting, teachers walked out en masse.

Outside, teachers briefly rallied before dispersing.

Rank-and-file teachers outside the meeting said they were behind the union 100 percent.

While they said they hoped to avoid a strike, they also said they would support one if it would get them a fair contract.

The board has offered a contract that would give teachers a 5.43 percent raise, on average, in the first year. For three years after that, teachers would get raises at .65 percentage points above the rate of inflation.

The union has proposed a deal that would increase overall teacher compensation by 6 percent, 7 percent and 8 percent in years one, two and three of the union's proposed contract, respectively.

Both offers have been rejected by the other side, but union leaders and board members have said the proposals are still in play.

The sides have been meeting with federal mediators since June.