NUEA rallies for community support as contract negotiations stall (Aug. 6, 2021)
Photo by Katie Dalton/Central Times
Hundreds of Naperville Unit Education Association members rallied Aug. 2 to gain ground in contract negotiations with District 203 administration and its Board of Education.
The demonstrators, wearing red in support of the association, gathered at Naperville North High School Monday evening before marching to Washington Junior High School, where the Aug. 2 Board Meeting was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
Current association president Dan Iverson addressed the crowd from a pickup truck bed-turned stage in the Naperville North parking lot at 5 p.m.
“We’re here because we don’t have a negotiated agreement,” he said. “We need to get one.”
The rally’s purpose, he said, was to garner community support for subsequent negotiations and break the stalemate, as the school year begins on Aug. 19, just a few weeks away.
Read the rest at centraltimes.org (reported by William Tong, multimedia by Katie Dalton/Central Times)
Read more about the 2021 negotiations process (Aug. 6 and Aug. 13, 2021)
District 203 signs 4-year contract with teacher union (Sept. 24, 2023)
Graphic by Evelyn Krupicka/Central times
The District 203 Board of Education signed a new four-year contract with the Naperville Unit Education Association at the Sept. 7 board meeting, after the association approved it with an 86% yes vote.
The ratification wraps up nine months of negotiations which stalled in the summer and led to the appointment of a federal mediator and the NUEA’s initiation of strike proceedings. Both sides say they are happy with the provisions of the new contract, which includes compromises on family and medical leave and pay. It also increases the cap on total sick days teachers can accumulate over their career from 360 to 365 and provides one-time bonuses and retroactive pay increases.
“It’s a fair agreement that really strikes a balance between ensuring we’re able to financially reward and compensate our educators for the amazing work they do, but also being respectful of the taxpayers and financial investment the community has to make,” District 203 superintendent Dan Bridges said.
A new addition to the educator compensation system are “longevity” increases, which guarantee raises for the district’s most experienced teachers.
“Keeping up with inflation for the rest of their careers once they get all the way through the salary schedule is a big deal,” NUEA president Dan Iverson said.
The parties were also able to find middle ground on the issue of family and medical leave. Educators originally requested the option of using accumulated sick days to take 12 paid weeks off, though District 203 was unwilling to go beyond the six mandated by the Illinois school code. The final contract has bumped that number up to 10 weeks.
