The West Chicago Teachers’ Association set a strike date for Friday after negotiations continue to go unresolved.

The Board of Education and Association have been negotiating a teacher contract for nearly two years. Negotiations started in April 2016. Teachers have been working without a contract since the start of school.

The board and Association held negotiations on Monday at the district office.

“There was some progress, however, the membership of the Association does not feel that the things necessary for an agreement to be acceptable have been accomplished,” president of the Association Brad Larson said.

During the meeting, Association members held a prayer session and a vigil. Students, Association members, and community members attended the event.

“I think it was a very powerful moment for both the members of the Association, the community, and the students present,” Larson said.

After Monday’s meeting, the Association met Tuesday to discuss the offers and results given at the meeting.

“The bargaining team explained the offer that came from the board. The Association discussed that and our options for moving forward. As a result, a strike date was set for Friday,” Larson said. “This is not a decision that the Association takes lightly at all. It is the result of the overwhelmingly prevailing sentiments and determination expressed by the membership.”

Although a date has been set, whether or not the Association will go on strike depends on Thursday’s bargaining session.

“The bargaining team will go back to the table Thursday afternoon. If a tentative agreement is not reached at the session, we will be on strike on Friday,” Larson said. “If an acceptable agreement can be reached, we’ll have school on Friday.”

If the Association does go on strike, they are unaware of how long they will strike for.

“It could be a day or a couple of days or longer than that,” Larson said. “If we strike, we hope it will be a shorter strike, but the membership has clearly indicated that they are willing to do what is necessary to achieve an acceptable agreement.”

One issue the Association would like to see resolved is their request to involve the community in negotiations.
“The Board of Education, in spite of our efforts to convince them to further involve the community in contributing in the decision-making process, (has) absolutely refused to discuss those issues,” Larson said.

As a way to show their support for their bargaining team, the Association will march to the district office at 4:15 p.m Thursday and hold a grade-in and other events during and after the bargaining session.

“We will have a few speakers at the district office. We will demonstrate the Association’s support and solidarity for the bargaining team.” Larson said. “We are going to return to the school and hold dinner here. We will be here waiting for the bargaining team to come back to and tell us the results of the bargaining session.”

The Association continues to be determined to reach a fair contract.

“Since the beginning, what we have said is that we are determined to achieve a contract that will allow the district to not only hire but retain high-quality staff. That is essential to maintaining the quality of our school,” Larson said. “We know that the Board of Education has the funds necessary to pay for the requests we’re making.”

Teachers have continued to work to contract terms on specific dates. They worked to terms on Monday and Wednesday.