Employer objects to teachers union request

The fate of teachers at the Cambridge Lakes Charter School probably will be in the hands of a judge now that their employer has objected to their efforts to unionize.

Most of the teachers at the Pingree Grove school have declared interest in forming a union, which would have allowed teachers to fast-track the process, a union official said.

But objections filed by the teachers' employer, the Northern Kane Educational Corp., means a judge will probably have to rule on the Illinois Education Association's petition to represent charter school teachers.

Teachers who want more input in instruction and their contracts have been meeting with the state's largest teachers union since the beginning of the year.

If there were no objections and teachers' signatures are valid, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board would have to certify the union by May 29, labor board spokeswoman Kathy Lyons said.

"Generally, the union makes a demand to bargain almost immediately," Lyons said.

But if the employer challenges whether the signatures are valid, the labor board will schedule a hearing, and a judge will rule on the petition, Lyons said.

If an employer raises objections but does not question whether the union has a majority of signatures, the labor board will usually certify the union, Lyons said.

The content of Northern Kane's objections was not clear Friday.

"We have a ton of objections," Northern Kane Executive Director Larry Fuhrer said. "We have already filed some."

Fuhrer would not provide any details on the objections, and an attorney for Northern Kane could not be reached for comment.

"It's a legal process," Fuhrer said. "I can't comment on it."

In March, the Illinois Education Association filed a grievance with the labor board, saying charter school officials violated teachers' right to organize at a Feb. 25 staff-wide meeting.

At the meeting, charter school officials asked teachers to say if they had been active in union efforts and told them to denounce the union or face consequences, according to documents obtained by the Daily Herald.

The labor board has scheduled a June hearing on the grievance at which charter school officials and the union will be able to argue their cases.

A charter school teacher who resigned in March has said his contract was not renewed for next year because he helped lead efforts to form a union at the school.