This comes after Community Consolidated School District 146 teachers voted to authorize a strike earlier this week. The district serves Orland Park, Tinley Park, and Oak Forest.
A strike is not imminent, but members support calling a strike if there is no other path to an agreement at the bargaining table, the union said.
The union says their current contract "penalizes teachers who work past retirement age, putting drastic limits on whether the district can retain experienced teachers. In addition, teacher compensation is towards the bottom when compared to neighboring districts."
"This Board of Education has pushed us far enough," said District 146 Educators Council President Eileen Von Borstel. "The district has the funds to ensure we can recruit and retain high quality educators, but the Board of Education is refusing to use that money to invest in our students and the people who teach them. We have no choice but to move towards a strike if they refuse to bargain a fair contract."
The district issued a statement, saying, "At Monday's Board meeting, many teachers expressed their views on the Board's last proposal. Since, the Board has made multiple new offers to the Union on Tuesday morning and again Friday morning. The Board's latest offer includes raises of 6% for each of the next three years and makes the current retirement incentive a benefit with a 10-year eligibility window. The Union's counters offered no salary movement from their last offer. The Union is still at 7% for the next three years.6% is the maximum the District can offer without incurring TRS penalties. By avoiding TRS penalties, taxpayer money goes directly to students, teachers, and schools rather than to a state agency. A contract with three 6% raises is higher than any district includedin the Board's or Union's lists of comparable districts. The latest offer is in addition to the following concessions already made by the Board: 14 sick days (previously 12), three bereavement days per occurrence (previously two per year), $2,000 annually in lieu of medical insurance, life insurance equal to a teacher's annual salary (previously capped at $20,000), and a $100 per sick day buyback at retirement (previously $50).The Board believes their current proposal is generous to teachers and keeps taxpayer interests in mind. They are confident the proposal will help the District continue to attract and retain high-quality educators for all of our schools."
"Given that the raises offered by the Board are the highest we've seen and higher than any shared by the union, we are surprised and disappointed to be at this point," said Supt. Dr. Jeff Stawick. "However, we remain committed to finding a solution that benefits both the teachers and the taxpayers and minimizes the educational disruption for our students."
The two sides have been at the table since February.
The earliest teachers can strike is Sept. 22.