Less than a month after declaring an impasse over teacher contract negotiations, the Tinley Park Elementary District 146 teachers’ union voted to authorize a strike. The earliest they are allowed to strike is Sept. 22.
“This board of education has pushed us far enough,” District 146 Educators Council President Eileen Von Borstel said in a news release Friday. “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 toward a strike if they refuse to bargain a fair contract.”
The news release said 230 of 232 union members voted in favor of a strike “if there is no other path to an agreement at the bargaining table.”
While most of the contract’s provisions are settled, the teachers union is fighting for higher wage increases and more retirement benefits than the district is offering. Negotiations began in February, with the union declaring an impasse once the board “started bargaining regressively and stalling over the summer.”
The most recently approved contract expired July 31.
The district in a statement Friday said it adjusted its offers on Tuesday and Friday after hearing from teachers during Monday’s school board meeting, while the union has not made any concessions.
The district moved wage increases up to 6% for each of the next three school years. Their offer last month included wage increases of 6% for each of the next two school years and 5% for the 2027-2028 school year. The district also made the current retirement incentive a benefit with a 10-year eligibility window, it said.
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The teachers union has remained firm in advocating for wage increases of 7% each year for the next three school years, which they say is important to counter inflation and struggles teachers faced during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to attract good teachers amid a nationwide shortage.
The district said it is unwilling to match the union’s 7% proposal because wage increases beyond 6% expose the district to financial penalties through the Illinois Teachers Retirement System.
“By avoiding TRS penalties, taxpayer money goes directly to students, teachers, and schools rather than to a state agency,” the district said. “A contract with three 6% raises is higher than any district included in the board’s or union’s lists of comparable districts.”
Under the district’s proposed salary increase, teachers starting salaries would be $52,570. Teachers with master’s degrees would start at $56,300. The contract for the 2024-2025 school year had teachers with bachelor’s degrees starting at $50,586 and teachers with master’s degrees starting at $54,175.
The union said it allowed the district to choose between two financial proposals in April, one that the district pay teachers’ TRS contribution, which is 9% of every teacher’s salary, while providing lower raises, or that they provide higher raises. The district chose the higher salary increase, the union said.
“Teaching should be a full-time job that earns full-time pay, but more than half of us have to work second and third jobs,” Von Borstel said. “It’s exhausting. Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions, and without a fair contract, we worry that these conditions just aren’t sustainable to ensure a strong future for our students and the district.”
District 156 Superintendent Jeff Stawick was unavailable for an interview but said in a district news release he is “surprised and disappointed to be at this point,” given the district’s offer being “the highest we’ve seen.”
“However, we remain committed to finding a solution that benefits both the teachers and the taxpayers and minimizes the educational disruption for our students,” Stawick said.
Board President Julie Berry said in a release last month the board values its teachers and their contributions to the district, which includes Fierke Education Center, Kruse Education Center, Fulton School, Memorial School and Central Middle School.
“We have been fortunate enough to maintain small class sizes and student-teacher ratios, exceptional educational programming, and minimal unfilled vacancies,” Berry said.