District 15 Strike: Chris Kennedy, Daniel Biss To Speak At Rally For Support Staffers

PALATINE, IL — Two Democratic gubernatorial candidates will join other community leaders at a rally Sunday for striking Community Consolidated School District 15 educational support workers. State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-9th District) and Chicago businessman Chris Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, will speak at the event, which is scheduled before contract talks resume between the district and the Educational Support Personnel Association, the union that represents the school system's classroom assistants, secretaries, nurses, sign language interpreters and other clerical and support staff.

The rally is set to start at 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, in the parking lot at 223 E. Northwest Hwy., in Palatine, and participants will march to the district's administrative office, 580 N. First Bank Drive, at 9:45 a.m. to continue the demonstration, the union announced Saturday afternoon. The bargaining session begins at 10:30 a.m.

The last time district and union negotiators met was for a 12-hour bargaining session Wednesday, which was the first time both sides had sat down since the strike began Monday, Oct. 16. The 454 district employees represented by the union have been without a contract since July, and a federal mediator has overseen these negotiations, which began in February. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest Palatine news. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Although Wednesday's session ended without a new deal being reached, both sides agreed the talks were productive. Illinois Education Association spokeswoman Bridgette Shanahan — the IEA and ESPA are affiliated — said late Wednesday "some progress" had been made at the bargaining table, while District 15 Supt. Scott Thompson described the ground gained toward hammering out a new contract as "significant."

"[T]he board is optimistic that the two sides are very close to a contract agreement," he wrote in a letter to parents Wednesday.

More Patch Coverage:

• District 15 Support Staffers Go On Strike
• District Schools Will Stay Open During Strike
• Nurses, Special Ed Aides Must Return To Work: Judge

For the union, one of the obstacles in reaching a deal has been the district's unwillingness to give its support workers a 2.5 percent raise as part of a potential five-year contract, an increase that wouldn't require a tax hike, according to a statement by the union Saturday afternoon.

"Nearly 40 percent of ESPA members make between $11 and $13 an hour, which is an annual salary of $12,000 to $14,000," the union said in a statement, adding that the raise would give most of its members "an extra 10 or 25 cents an hour."

In its five-year contract proposal, the district has offered to raise wages by 1.85 percent annually for the first two years, followed by increases of 1.85 percent to 2.25 percent annually for the remaining years in the contract.

The following items are other developments stemming from the District 15 strike:

No Striking for Some Workers: Not all of district support staffers are allowed on the picket line. A day after the strike was called a Cook County circuit court judge granted a temporary injunction that forced the school system's nurses and special education assistants back to work. The judge agreed with the district's request to prohibit those 168 workers from striking, arguing that their absence could jeopardize the health and safety of students. District 15 schools will remain open during the work stoppage.

Medical Coverage on Hold: Health insurance for the striking workers has been suspended by the school system, the Daily Herald reports. The district released an email sent to its educational support staffers earlier this month informing them about changes in their medical coverage and other benefits in the event of a work stoppage, the report added.

"We want to make sure that all members are aware that during a strike, all salary, insurance (including prescription drug plans) and other board-paid benefits shall cease for striking members," District 15 Board of Education President Lisa Szczupaj wrote in the email originally dated Oct. 3, according to the Herald.

The union objects to the suspension of coverage, especially since its members paid upfront for their health insurance, Shanahan told the Herald. She also said workers weren't given an exact date when they would lose those benefits, and many of the affected staffers found out about the suspended coverage when their insurance cards were rejected, the report added.

District spokeswoman Morgan Delack said workers will be reimbursed for their days without insurance that were paid in advance, the report stated. But Shanahan said employees don't know when they'll receive that money, and many of them can't afford those expenses, the report added.

The suspension of benefits also has adversely affected the essential district workers who were forced back to work by a Cook County judge. BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, the district's health insurer, was told to continue coverage for those employees following Tuesday's ruling, and Delack told the Herald that they will be reimbursed for any expenses they encounter if their coverage doesn't return immediately.

More via the Daily Herald

Two Democratic gubernatorial candidates — Chicago businessman Chris Kennedy (left) and Illinois Sen. Daniel Biss (D-9th District) — will speak at a rally Sunday in support of the striking educational support workers for Community Consolidated School District 15. (Kennedy photo by Charles Rex Arbogast | Associated Press; Biss photo by Seth Perlman | Associated Press)

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