Public employee pay freeze needed

Negotiators for teachers and the school board in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 reached a tentative agreement Friday on a one-year contract that would give teachers 2-percent raises on their base pay.

Under normal conditions, that would seem to be a restrained and responsible raise, worthy of sprinkling praise and appreciation on both sides of the bargaining table. And clearly, judging by the initial comments in response to the agreement, teachers feel like they are making a sacrifice. Two percent is not a huge increase, after all.

But these are not normal conditions. They are uncertain times.

Throughout the suburbs, times are tough. Large numbers of suburbanites are out of work. For those who are not, few have been untouched by layoffs; almost everyone knows of a relative or neighbor or friend or colleague who has lost a job. This is true in education circles as well. Just last week, Elgin Area School District U-46 announced it would be cutting 348 jobs in the next school year

Yes, throughout the suburbs, times are tough. Even beyond the layoffs, for large numbers of suburbanites, wages are frozen or reduced. For merchants, business is slow and revenues are down.

Times are tough.

And a 2-percent raise is not a sacrifice in comparison to all that. In this climate, a 2-percent raise is doing pretty good. Especially considering that the Consumer Price Index is a tenth of 1 percent.

The point of this isn't to bash negotiators in District 204. It's obvious in that case that both sides are cognizant of the economy and their obligations to the taxpayers who are footing the bill. We can see that they're trying to be responsible.

We'll save the outrage for situations like Warren Township High School District 121, where the school board earlier this year decided to give Superintendent Phil Sobocinski raises of 6 percent a year over the next three years leading to his retirement in order to fatten up his pension.

The point is to say that, good intentions aside, 2 percent isn't good enough - to say that to teachers and school board members in District 204, but just as importantly, to all the other school districts and local governments that are or will be negotiating contracts in the days and weeks ahead.

Times are tough, and it's crucial that our local governments and public employees show solidarity with the hard-pressed taxpayers who are struggling to pay the salaries and the bills.

It's crucial that our local governments and public employees embrace the reality of zero-base pay raises, even if that means one-year contracts that can be revisited when times, we all hope, will be less severe.