Strike negotiations break down again in Waukegan
A strike in Waukegan Unit District 60 will continue into the weekend, now two weeks after some 1,200 teachers hit the picket lines.
District officials said that schools would remained closed, after negotiations broke down again Wednesday night.
A news release from the board of education said union officials suspended discussions and suggested perhaps both sides reconvene next week. The board, meanwhile, “stands ready to meet and continue working towards a solution,” the release stated.
Waukegan Teachers Council President Kathy Schwarz said in a statement that union negotiators did not walk away from the table but wanted to allow time for the board's negotiating team to bring proposals back to board members.
“We are giving them time to reflect and to look at their own numbers and come back with a serious offer,” Schwarz said. “Until (Wednesday) night, the two sides exchanged proposals in rapid succession. Each proposal from the board showed minuscule movement.”
The board says it is offering salary increases of 3.8 percent for teachers with less than 22 years of employment, 5.75 percent for teachers with 23 years of employment, and 2 percent for teachers with 24 or more years of employment. The union's offer is 6.9 percent, 6 percent and 4 percent, respectively, according to the district.
Schwarz said the board is discussing proposals in public “that show only a snapshot of the process.” The last board proposal, she said, showed movement of .1 percent.
The board says it agreed to fully fund single premium health care for the next two years, a nonteaching union president position, and a $100 increase in tuition reimbursement for teacher training classes.
Some 17,000 students, from kindergartners to high schoolers, have been out of school since the strike began. The district includes 23 school buildings.