Union solidarity, public support keys to Peoria teachers union stettlement

Unity within the rank and file and support from the community made the difference in a settlement between the Peoria Federation of Teachers Local 780 and the Peoria Public Schools district, union leaders say.

With about 90% of PFT members voting, 99% of them ratified the three-year contract on Sept. 18; the Board of Education unanimously approved the new contract on Sept. 26.

Bargaining started in March, and after 19 stymied negotiating sessions, a mediator was called in. The third meeting with the mediator on Sept. 15 resulted in a Tentative Agreement.

 “I think the turning point was when we had a rally outside of the administration building/school board meeting in August,” said PFT bargaining chair Matt McCaw. “We honestly estimated over 800 teachers/community members there to support the union bargaining efforts. That show of solidarity really strengthened our position and helped the bargaining team greatly. We knew that if there were only 200 or 300 teachers there, we wouldn't be in a great position of strength at the bargaining table, but when 800+ showed up, and the district knew it, we felt like we held all the cards.”

PFT Local President Jeff Adkins-Dutro said what mattered were “our rally, the strike vote, the Labor Day parade [turnout], and the ‘We will walk’ count we had when we were nearing an impasse.

 “We worked from a strike backwards this time,” he continued. “We weren’t reacting to what was thrown at us. We looked ahead and had a strategy for each step.”

Assessing the final agreement, McCaw said, “We were quite pleased with the compensation package that we finally agreed to. We got 5% on the base and the step increase [based on years of experience] in year 1, 4% plus step in year 2, and 4% plus the step in year 3.

“Additionally, we agreed to a $2,000 retention bonus payable at the end of each school year,” he added. “Lastly, if the district receives more money in CPPRT [Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax] revenue this year, then the teachers will receive either a $1,000 or $2,000 bonus payable at the end of 2023.

“The PFT is happy that we were able to get language added to the contract that addresses student discipline, social promotion, and attendance,” McCaw continued. “This isn't language that is typically found in teacher contracts and it was something that was very important to us. This will mandate the district to meet with us and work together to try to improve some of the major issues that our teachers deal with.”

The new agreement also includes a reduction of middle-school Professional Learning Community provisions from 3 to 2.

“We also were able to get new language added to the contract that says the district and the union will split the cost to have a system analysis done this school year that examines the high stress and low morale that our teachers have and what can be done to improve that,” McCaw said.

That collaborative study will be conducted during the 2022-23 school year

Adkins-Dutro said, “We got discipline, attendance, social promotion, working conditions, work space, and workplace protections all worked into the contract.

“We need these items worked on desperately,” he said. “These aren’t your typical bargaining items, [but] we bargained for them and got them – so we can hold the district accountable.”

The union didn’t achieve everything, of course, but it remains committed to fight for significant issues.

 “We were disappointed with the district because we were hoping to get language that guarantees a certified school counselor in each school and increase the number of counselors where the school population determined a need, but the district wouldn't agree. We also had hoped to decrease the current class size numbers found in our contract but had no success there either.

Adkins-Dutro agreed, saying, “We didn’t get the counselors. We will, however, be able to fight for lower class sizes at the state level.”