Negotiators for the Ottawa Township High School Education Association and the school board will meet Sunday to discuss the contract dispute that has closed the school since September 30.
The announcement that the board was ready to meet came days after the teachers charged the board with an unfair labor practice (ULP) for alleged regressive bargaining and for refusing to come to the bargaining table until teachers handed over a written contract proposal that the board determined was worthwhile.
On Friday, teachers filed a new ULP, alleging the board violated the law when it published in a local newspaper a collective bargaining proposal that had not previously been presented to teachers in negotiations.
“We’re more than ready to get back to the classrooms and resume providing the high quality education that our students deserve,” Weatherford said. “Setting this weekend for negotiations still seems like too long a delay to us, but it’s better than the Board responses we’ve had up to now.”
Weatherford expressed optimism that an agreement can be reached this weekend, with school to resume on Tuesday.
“We’re coming to the table with ideas and openness that we think can help solve the crisis,” Weatherford said. “It’ll go a long way toward resolution if the school board does the same.”
Illinois Education Association is an association of more than 130,000 members composed of Illinois elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty and staff, educational support professionals, retired educators and college students preparing to become teachers.
Good for the board. They need to stay strong and be fiscally responsible. It is time for the teachers to realize that in these tough economic times that a raise is not automatic and everyone needs to share the burden for health coverage.