For Oak Park and River Forest High School’s custodians, the saga is over, at least for the next four years.
After exploring the option of outsourcing the school’s building & grounds work, and unable to reach an agreement since the last contract expired in June, both sides finally agreed to a new deal Thursday. The 40 workers in the union, 28 of whom are custodians, will get 1.5-percent wage raises each year until 2012.
“These were tough negotiations,” said Matt Brandon, secretary treasurer for the Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents the 40 workers. “I don’t think anybody is happy with the way they turned out, even the board, but it is what it is. We protected the members’ jobs, and we look forward to better times in the economy where we can negotiate better increases for our members.”
OPRF was close to reaching a new contract on March 25, but the union voted it down 20-16. Brandon said they felt, based on comments by board President Jacques Conway, that the school was using the threat of outsourcing to drive down wages. But after Conway clarified his statements and a few changes were made, the union felt more comfortable in voting 31-4 in favor of the new agreement.
“I was never for paying an outside company X amount of dollars so they could pay lower wages to their members,” Conway said Monday. “And for somebody to believe that is wrong and totally against who I am.”
Conway agreed it wasn’t the best contract but felt it was fair in a struggling economy. He believes the next contract will be easier to reach after all the energy put into this one.
The contract runs from the current school year until the 2011-2012 school year. It’s virtually the same as the one almost approved March 25 except for two changes. The original contract said only top performers would get raises. Now all members get 1.5-percent wage increases each of the final three years.
There will also be a $10,000 bonus pool each year set aside to dole out to the top performers. Wage increases will cost the high school $270,000 each year.
The other change from the original contract relates to vacation days. OPRF had proposed freezing the amount of new vacation days for existing employees. However, that will only apply to new employees and those who have only been with the school for a few years. For them, it will take longer to accumulate the maximum number of vacation days.
New employees will earn $18 an hour, down from the current starting wage of $23.24, along with receiving fewer vacation and sick days. Health benefits will remain the same.
“We’re grateful that we were able to reach an agreement,” Superintendent Attila Weninger said Monday. “And while the process was longer than either party wanted or anticipated, we think we have created greater and stronger opportunities for communication in the future.”
CONTACT: mstempniak@wjinc.com