On Sept. 23, 1983, Gov. Jim Thompson signed the Collective Bargaining Act (CBA), giving Illinois public education employees a more level playing field in negotiations with school districts that had become used to playing hardball against their teachers and support professionals. It is worth noting that CBA made strikes a rare event in Illinois, because districts were no longer able to easily bully employees into taking unfair offers.
"The Collective Bargaining act was passed because IEA made an organizational commitment to passing legislation that was good for school employees, students and public education as a whole," said IEA President Ken Swanson. "Today, our funding initiative, Invest in Excellence, is the top priority of IEA. Similarly, its passage will benefit public education employees, students, communities statewide and the entire state."
A excerpt from the video "Looking Back, Moving Forward" on the fight for collective bargaining below