Dist. 204 clerical union to get 2 percent raise

Indian Prairie Unit District 204 has reached a tentative agreement with its 799-member support staff union.

The one-year contract, approved Monday by union members by a vote of 185 to 46, calls for a 26-cent-per-hour increase for new support staff members, and a 2 percent step raise for existing employees.

The union includes 598 teaching assistants, 95 secretaries, 37 deans assistants, 36 library/technology assistants and 33 health assistants, clerks and receptionists.

The group's three-year deal expired in April and included a 5.15 percent increase in salary and benefits for 2006-07, a 4.11 percent increase for 2007-08 and a 4.02 percent increase for 2008-09.

"Times are tough for everyone so we appreciate everyone's negotiation efforts and trying to be fiscally responsible," Union President Carol Schaible said Tuesday. "We're still not getting as much as surrounding areas, but we did get a raise which is very, very important and 80 percent of our voting members approved."

According to the new agreement, the starting salary for secretaries next year would be $13.49 per hour, and assistants would start at $11.01 per hour.

"A one-year deal is the best we could do right now, but we know we're a little under the competitive market of some benchmark districts," said Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Nancy Valenta. "Nobody was interested in talking about anything more than a one-year contract because we don't know what next year is going to bring. This helps us lay out a frugal budget and allows us to bargain both contracts within that next time."

Next year's salaries from neighboring Naperville Unit District 203 are $13.48 for secretaries and $11.62 for assistants.

Salaries for other districts include St. Charles Unit District 303: secretaries $15.42, assistants $12.96; Wheaton-Warrenville Unit District 200: secretaries $13.50, assistants $10.50; and Elmhurst Unit District 205: secretaries $12.73, assistants $11.28.

School board members are expected to vote on the contract on Monday.