Lucia Moss
Wednesday, January 26th, 2022, the Champaign Federation of Teachers (CFT) union members voted to authorize a strike to further negotiate for a contract that addresses members' concerns about extending the elementary school day. According to the News-Gazette, 738 of the about 850 members voted to authorize the strike, a 91% majority.
As students, it can be difficult to understand what is going on and how it affects us. Here is an introduction to who the CFT and Board are, what a contract is, what is currently being negotiated, and how it may impact you.
Who are the involved parties in the contract negotiations?
CFT stands for Champaign Federation of Teachers. Although teachers are in the name, the bargaining unit also includes school counselors, social workers, librarians, speech pathologists, and other licensed educators in the building.
The Board of Education is a body of seven elected Board members who make the policies of the Unit 4 schools. Amy Armstrong, Board President, and Dr. Gianina Baker, Board member, represent the school Board in negotiations concerning the CFT and their contract.
What is a contract?
The basics of each contract include working conditions, leaves and transfers, and salary and related economic items.
As of right now, the CFT bargaining unit is working without a contract because the Unit 4 School Board and CFT have yet to reach an agreement.
According to the 2018-2021 collective bargaining agreement between the CFT and Champaign Community Schools Unit District No. 4 Board of Education, the Agreement Not To Strike clause in Article 1 says, “CFT hereby agrees not to strike…during the term of this Agreement.” The contract expired on June 30th, 2021, which means that the union is allowed to strike.
What is the current disagreement over?
The sticking point of this contract’s negotiation is the term of extending the elementary school day. The board wants to extend the elementary school day by 50 minutes, but elementary teachers argue that the plan is too vague to agree to just yet. CFT asked the board to firm up details like transportation, start time issues, and required support staff before they agreed to the extended day. Union President, Mike Sitch, declined to comment publicly, citing ongoing negotiations, but screenshots of an email sent by a member to Lisa Madden—and independently verified— revealed that CFT offered to accept the extended day and take a smaller raise if the Board committed to outlining a plan for transportation, hire more support staff, allow teachers at early start schools with childcare issues to switch schools. Per the email, the Board refused these requests saying they were “not even in the ballpark”, and were “willing to absorb a strike over the extended day.”
Board President, Amy Armstrong, also declined to comment for this article, citing ongoing negotiations.
In response to the authorization of the strike the Unit 4 Board of Education said they are “disheartened” at the outcome of the vote, in an alert that can be seen when visiting the Unit 4 website. Per the alert, the Board’s proposal is meant to serve the needs and improve the conditions for both teachers and students. The Board is awaiting the CFT’s plan based on the outcome of the vote and wants to move “forward in a manner that ensures commitments made to our students, parents, and community are more than empty promises.”
What does a strike look like and how does it affect students?
The process of a strike, while it was authorized, is “slower than you think,” according to the co-steward of the CFT, Dr. Scott Filkins. A strike will happen at the earliest in “something like 20 days.”
“There are purposeful regulations and labor laws that are designed both to inform people and to have, like, a cool-down process, but negotiations continue. Really what the vote was about, last night was ‘do we accept the contract or do we continue negotiating’ … but instead of just having a ratify/ not ratify vote, because we’re so far in the school year, there was the extra impetus to say, ‘we’ll get this next thing in motion’.”
A strike “gives the bargaining team the ability to go to the district and say, ‘If things continue to be at a stalemate, one of our steps of action can be a strike,” said Dr. Filkins.
What this means for students and their families is that classes won’t be held; however there may be attempts to keep schools open, but during a strike, schools are not usually open. Some teachers are not a part of the union and may choose to cross the picket line and continue to teach if there were to be a strike. Part of the contract negotiation is how to make up the days lost during a strike.
Dr. Filkins notes, “I think it’s safe to say, no one really wants a strike. It’s not a good thing. It’s a breakdown of something.”