Addison District 4, teachers union remain far apart on salaries
A proposal to give teachers about an 11 percent pay raise total over the next three years has not been enough to jump-start stalled contract talks in Addison Elementary District 4.
The school board and teachers exchanged final contract offers last week after the board declared an impasse in negotiations. The board filed notice with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board after nearly eight months at the bargaining table and has released some details of its salary offer.
The board says it is proposing a 4 percent pay increase for all members of the Addison Teachers Association in the first year of a new contract and 3.5 percent raises in each of the following two years.
"We've provided a real offer that we feel is fair, and the union can entertain that," Superintendent John Langton said Monday.
But in a statement on the district's website, the school board says teachers have "made little or no movement in their positions" since May 19.
"It really hasn't changed," Langton said of the union's most recent offer.
The state labor board will publish the details of both the district's and the union's final proposals on its website (Illinois.gov/elrb) Thursday, unless negotiators reach an agreement before then.
The school board has asked to meet with the union on Nov. 14 and Dec. 6, when a federal mediator also would be available, Langton said.
As of Monday afternoon, the board had not received a response from teachers about scheduling sessions, Langton said. Union negotiators had planned to meet as a team Monday to talk about their next steps.
Kim Heupel, the co-chairwoman of the union's bargaining team and a teacher at Stone Elementary, did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment Monday. Bob Wojtas and Stacy Hahn, the union's co-presidents, also did not respond to emails.
Teachers have been working under the terms of a three-year pact that expired at the end of June.
A first-year teacher in the district who has a bachelor's degree now makes $41,605 a year. The district does not use a traditional salary schedule with so-called step increases based on teachers' length of service.
Talks on a new contract began March 9. After 11 bargaining sessions, the board requested in August that the two sides make a joint request for a federal mediator.
The district and the union then met four times with the mediator in September and early October.
"We want to negotiate a fair contract for our teachers," board Vice President and Negotiations Chairman Jim Towns said in the statement. "But we need to balance their needs against our future priorities and revenue - which are often unpredictable."
The statement also said union members acted "inappropriately" by distributing negotiations fliers to residents while handing out candy to children at a "Trunk or Treat" event Oct. 28.