Teachers walk picket line in Huntley District 158

About 50 teachers and supporters wearing green HEA T-shirts are picketing this morning outside Huntley Unit District 158's Algonquin campus on the first day of their strike.

A constant stream of motorists are honking their horns, presumably in support of the teachers, as they pass the pickets. The only visible sign of protest earlier this morning came from a man who displayed a single finger as he drove by.

The campus off Square Barn Road contains Mackeben and Conley elementary schools, Heineman Middle School and the district's administration building, where the Huntley Education Association and the school board broke off negotiations in the middle of the night.

Most signs the teachers were generic, but at least two were homemade. One stated: "If you can read this, thank a teacher." Another was more on point with one of the union's main gripes: "My step and lane should remain the same."

None of the teachers would talk to reporters.

The driver of a Pepsi truck making a delivery to the campus turned around when he saw the pickets.

For the time being, all school activities have been canceled. The district will announce if school will be open Tuesday by 6 p.m. today.

The sides are scheduled to meet again Tuesday night, according to the union.

Teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 21. School started Aug. 25.

The union on Sunday rejected a late offer from the board that would have increased teachers' overall compensation by at least 17.8 percent over the next three years, school board member Larry Snow said.

The offer would have given most teachers a pay raise of more than 5 percent in each year of the contract, according to a news release from the district. The proposal also would have increased contributions to teachers' pensions.

The board expressed disappointment in the union's decision.

"The (union) leadership has repeatedly declared they would not strike as long as the board continued to negotiate," a Monday news release from the district said. "The board spent over 40 hours this weekend bargaining in good faith and making major concessions. Despite that fact, the (union) leadership did not keep their promise to the families and students of District 158."

The board said the union refused to defer a strike while negotiations continued. Snow said the union did not notify the board it would carry out the strike until about 3:30 a.m., although the union formally started its strike at midnight.

Union said the board left them with no other choice but to strike.

"The board of education has forced us to call this strike," the union said in a news release shortly before 4 a.m. "Though the school board had promised to come to the bargaining table this weekend, statements in the press from the Board of Education suggest the outcome was predetermined and the Board intended to force the teachers out of the classrooms and onto the picket lines."

In the release, the Huntley Education Association accused the board of holding up an agreement.

"The HEA has made significant movement in recent talks," the release stated. "Instead of negotiating with the HEA on Sunday evening, the Board seemed more concerned with writing unilateral press releases and continued to negotiate in the press. The Board must stop their media blitz, politicking and campaigning for re-election at the expense of the children of this community."

But Snow said the board tried to meet the union halfway on some of the most important and contentious contract items: salary, retirement benefits, the number of work days and the length of the work day

"The board has also compromised significantly on a number of major issues of importance to teachers," a Sunday evening release from the district said.

Among these is health insurance. Coverage of teachers who receive family insurance will increase more than 10 percent in the first year and more than 5.5 percent each year after that, the release said.

The board also made a number of concessions on salary, according to the release, including dropping its long-standing request that pay raises be tied to the rate of inflation. Instead, the board is willing to accept fixed percentages.

The sides reached tentative agreement on at least 47 of 59 issues in the teacher contract during the weekend, according to a the release.

Contract talks began in February, and the sides have been meeting with federal mediators since June.

Check back at dailyherald.com for further updates.

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