Hinsdale district asks teachers union to drop strike threat
Hinsdale High School District 86 school board members are calling on the teachers union to drop the threat of a strike and allow a vote on the district's latest contract offer.
"It's time for the angst and anxiety to dissipate by the union leadership by presenting the district's comprehensive offer, which is more than fair, to its membership and allow a vote on it," school board President Richard Skoda said. "In the meantime, drop the strike weapon and stop using our kids as a bargaining chip."
Skoda's remarks came during a Tuesday news conference where officials presented highlights of the district's latest offer to the Hinsdale High School Teachers Association.
The school board is proposing a 4-year deal that would, among other things, create a new salary schedule, increase the teachers' share of health insurance costs and phase out 6 percent annual pay raises for teachers during their last four years on the job.
"This is a very, very fair contract," Skoda said. "Everybody is getting a raise. The average will be a 2.8 percent raise. Nobody is taking a pay cut."
But a union spokesman said the district previously wasn't forthcoming with all the details of its offer.
The two sides have been negotiating for roughly a year without coming to terms on a new agreement.
"It doesn't take a year to negotiate a teachers contract," said Mike Palmquist, a Hinsdale Central teacher and union spokesman. "If they wanted to negotiate in good faith, this would have been done a long time ago. They have delayed continually. They have withheld information."
He said that's what prompted the union last week to file a 28-day notice to strike, meaning its 377 members - including teachers, guidance counselors and social workers - could walk off the job next month.
That move required both District 86 and the union to give their proposals Tuesday to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, which is going to post the information on its website.
"By getting a complete offer from them and getting some of the data we've been asking them for weeks and months," Palmquist said, "we're hoping to move the negotiation process forward."
District 86 includes students from Hinsdale, Darien, Clarendon Hills, Burr Ridge, Oak Brook, Westmont and Willowbrook who attend Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South. The educators serving those students have been working without a new contract since June 30.
If the stalemate continues into October, the union says its members won't strike before Hinsdale Central's homecoming on Oct. 11.
"A strike is the last thing the teachers want," John Bowman, president of the teachers association, said in a statement. "While the timing of the posting process makes a strike possible before homecoming, we are committed to preserving homecoming for the students."
Unless the union abandons the possibility of a strike, Skoda said the assumption is that a job action may take place as early as Oct. 14.
School board members said the biggest economic difference between the district's proposed offer and the union's deals with salaries.
The district, for example, wants to offer step, or experience, increases based on a new 35-step salary scale. The union wants the district to continue to have a salary schedule with 19 steps, but with some modifications.
One-third of the district's teachers are at the top of the pay scale. Right now, they are paid a base salary of about $127,000 a year - an amount that increases to nearly $130,000 if the new pay scale is adopted.
However, other teachers would take longer to reach higher pay under the proposed schedule. Union representatives say that could hamper the district's ability to attract and keep quality educators.
The district also wants to freeze the amount of the stipends teachers receive to coach or sponsor clubs or teach summer school. The union wants stipend amounts to increase annually based on the consumer price index.
Edward Corcoran, vice president of the school board, said the freeze is necessary to stop "the compounding impact" of the stipends.
"The stipends are pensionable earnings," Corcoran said. "If you make $10,000 in a stipend, you get $7,500 a year for life on your pension, plus COLA. So in a matter of only a few years, you're making more on your pension for the bass fishing club or the football team ... than when you were actually there."
Another issue that's a huge sticking point for the teachers is a proposed spousal surcharge for insurance.
In addition to having their health insurance premiums increase, the teachers are being asked to pay a $200-a-month surcharge if their spouses have access to health insurance from their work. If a spouse doesn't have other insurance available, the surcharge would be $100 a month. Union representatives say the proposed surcharge would be unprecedented.
In the meantime, the union is planning to post a copy of its own offer on its website.
"The teachers' offer takes care of kids by putting the best teachers we can in front of our kids every day," said Palmquist.
Pay, benefits and dress code
Sticking points in contract negotiations in Hinsdale High School District 86:
Salary schedule structure: District wants a 35-step scale that would slow teachers' rise to the top of the pay grade; union wants to maintain existing 19-step scale.
What teachers make: Starting pay would be $53,002 (union proposal) or $54,000 (school board proposal). Top of scale: $129,032 (union proposal) $129,953 (district proposal). Point of further disagreement: District claims average teacher salary is $111,000; union claims it's "low $80,000."
Stipends: District wants to freeze stipend amounts; union wants them to increase based on inflation.
End-of-career raises: District wants to phase out 6 percent raises for each of last four years; union willing to reduce end-of-career raises to 3 percent for each of last four years.
Dress code: District wants one; union doesn't.
Health insurance: District wants a spousal surcharge; union doesn't.
Sources: Hinsdale High School District 86, Hinsdale High School Teachers Association