Grayslake teachers union to take strike vote Monday

Contract talks between the Grayslake Elementary District 46 school board and the teachers union stalled late Wednesday, union officials said, prompting the group to call for a strike vote at a special membership meeting Monday.

The Grayslake union is negotiating an agreement to replace the 2005-08 teachers' contract that expired June 30. District 46 teachers have been working without a pact since July 1, and not all teachers received salary increases this year, said Arnavaz Mistry-Mujthaba, field service director for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, an umbrella group for local teachers unions.

"I think some people who were entitled to column movement were granted that, but not everybody," she said. "For the majority of individuals, they remained at the same salary scale."

Mistry-Mujthaba said she could not divulge details about what teachers are asking for as part of a new contract, but added, "the length of the agreement" is one of the collective bargaining issues on the table.

District 46 school board President Michael Linder said district officials are "continuing to negotiate in good faith" until an actual strike is called.

"Nothing's happened so far," he said. "We have to wait and see what happens."

It's unclear whether the district's roughly 330 teachers serving seven schools and 4,317 students will vote Monday to authorize a strike and set a strike date.

A negotiating session with a federal mediator is planned for Nov. 1 between union representatives and District 46 school board members.

"We don't even know yet what the membership will say on Monday to us," Mistry-Mujthaba said. "It is just that the two parties were unable to reach an agreement last night, and we have been bargaining for a good 10 months now."

The closed union meeting Monday begins 4 p.m. at Frederick School, 595 Frederick Road, Grayslake.