West Aurora School District union office support staff will receive raises plus additional salary increases tied to work performance under a new five-year contract.
The West Aurora School Board recently approved a collective bargaining agreement with the West Aurora Office Professional Association that represents 82 office workers in the district.
The agreement for clerical workers is effective July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2025. Under terms of the contract, support staff will receive hourly wage increases of 4% in the first year and 2.5% in each of the subsequent four years of the contract, plus potential increases based on an individual’s evaluation, district officials said.
“In year one, we essentially gave a slight increase over what they would have received under the formula in the expiring contract. In the rest of the years, it is 2.5% plus (an amount) based on their evaluation,” West Aurora Assistant Superintendent of Operations Angie Smith said in an email response to questions about the contract.
The union membership overwhelmingly voted to approve the contract, officials said.
“Everyone is happy. We had a 100% approval rating on our end which I probably think is a first time ever,” West Aurora Office Professional Association President Stacy Krisch said. “We want to thank the board for the collaboration during the negotiation. We had a lot of questions and the administration was helpful.”
“It involved hard work in getting here and having negotiations remotely. I appreciate all of the work that made this happen,” West Aurora School Board member Christopher Sparks said.
Negotiations began in March and concluded at the end of May. All of the negotiations were done remotely due to the pandemic.
West Aurora Superintendent Jeff Craig recognized the leadership on both sides of the negotiating table.
“I am glad to say (the contract is) going through the 2024-2025 school year. I appreciate the great effort that involved compromise, talking things through and coming to a good resolution,” Craig said.
The previous four-year agreement for clerical workers was effective July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2020. Under terms of that contract, support staff received hourly wage increases of 2.5% in the first year and 2% in each of the subsequent three years. There were additional wage increases tied with work evaluations in the latter three years of that contract.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.