Naperville teachers union claims pay freeze unfair

A Naperville teacher’s union has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against Naperville Unit District 203 because the district is excluding about 100 longtime teachers from base raises the rest of the teachers are getting.

District officials say the Naperville Unit Education Association was given documentation showing the group of employees would not be receiving raises during negotiations for the contract, which lasts from 2010 to 2013.

The complaint involves 107 teachers who have worked in the district so long they are beyond the 22-step schedule that regulates salaries and raises.

The union believed all teachers, regardless of their process on the step schedule, were to get a base raise under the contract beginning in August, said Mark Bailey, president of the Naperville Unit Education Association. He said the union filed the unfair labor practices complaint Monday because the district is saying the 107 most veteran teachers will not be receiving raises.

“We have no documentation or records indicating that we agreed upon or even discussed a pay freeze for the 107 teachers,” Bailey said in a news release. “When we left the table, we clearly understood that all teachers were to be treated the same.”

In a statement released Saturday morning, the district said it clearly advised the union the employees past the step schedule would not be receiving raises during the second two years of the contract.

“We thought the issue was clear in the 2007 negotiations, and we clearly addressed it in the materials passed to the (union) at the beginning of these negotiations,” District 203 board President Mike Jaensch said in a news release. “When there was no objection or questions from the (union), we had no reason to believe they disagreed.”

In a statement released Saturday afternoon, the union said representatives received a spreadsheet detailing the lack of raises for the group of senior teachers, but “the pay freeze was never formally presented,” in negotiations or indicated on the tentative agreement signed by both sides.

The unfair labor practices claim, filed with the Illinois Labor Relations Board, will lead to an independent investigation. A hearing may be scheduled before the labor board resolves the case.