Woodland employee union seeks raises topping 5 percent
Specifics have been released on raises being sought by union employees in a contract dispute at Woodland Elementary District 50 in Gurnee.
Illinois Federation of Teachers spokesman Kenzo Shibata said instructors and support workers would receive average annual pay hikes of a little more than 5 percent if the union's proposal for a five-year deal were accepted by the Woodland school board. Negotiations, with assistance from a federal mediator, were expected to resume Thursday night.
Salary and benefits are among the sticking points in the contract talks that have occurred periodically since January.
Offers from each side became public Wednesday on the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board website. State law required the proposals to become public because a deal was not reached within seven days of the Woodland Council union's request to have the offers posted with the educational labor relations board.
Pay raise demands were not included in the union's most recent proposal posted to the state website, but specifics on medical benefits and other issues are included. Shibata said specific pay numbers were not included because potentially higher health care costs could reduce the actual value of percentage increases sought by the union.
"The board presented raises in its proposal, but does not show the total impact of the offer," Shibata said Thursday. "The union team wanted to provide all of the required information with public posting, but wanted the ability to explain the whole picture when we present percent raises."
Shibata said the Woodland Council union local seeks a 5 percent raise for teachers in the contract's first year, followed by hikes of 6 percent, 5.75 percent, 5.5 percent and 5 percent. For bus drivers and other support employees, the union proposes a first-year pay hike of 5 percent, followed by raises of 6.05 percent, 5.75 percent, 4.75 percent and 4.5 percent.
In the five-year contract proposed by the District 50 school board, there would be annual raises matching the Consumer Price Index with an extra 1 percent for teachers making less than $78,000. There would be a minimum 2 percent raise and a maximum of 3 percent.
Teachers receiving $78,000 or more per year would get a pay hike mirroring the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percent, with a cap of 2 percent, according to the school board's proposal.
Bus drivers and the other support workers would get raises matching the Consumer Price Index and an additional 1 percent, under the five-year school board offer. The raises would have a floor of 2 percent and a 3 percent ceiling. About 780 members of the Woodland Council union have been working without a deal since the academic year began in August.