National Union President Walks D124 Picket Line Before Another Round of Talks

Leadership from state and national unions showed up today to support Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124 teachers.

As negotiators prepared for another round of bargaining this evening, national union leadership arrived in Evergreen Park to provide a boost of energy to teachers on the third day of their strike.  Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5 million-strong American Federation of Teachers, was joined by other local and state union leaders in offering words of support to the striking Evergreen Park staff.  Weingarten rallied the crowd with words of encouragement along 95th Street as chants erupted and passing car horns sounded.  "Their fight is the long term fight for ensuring that we have a high quality public education system for all kids," Weingarten said. "Not just in Evergreen Park, but for the surrounding areas and the country." She says …

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Catch-Up on the Latest D124 Contract Negotiation News

The D124 teachers union has set a possible strike date of Tuesday (Oct. 2) as talks on a new contract continue. Read Patch's coverage of the negotiations.

EP Teachers Set Oct. 2 Strike Date

Evergreen Park elementary school teachers are poised to strike on Oct. 2 if an agreement for a new contract cannot be reached with the Dist. 124 school board.

The Evergreen Park teachers union and Dist. 124 school board are scheduled for another bargaining session on Wednesday after failing to reach an agreement on a new teachers contract earlier this week. Sign up the Evergreen Park Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Contract talks broke up after four-and-a-half hours of negotiations on Monday evening, prompting teachers to set an October 2 strike date. Both sides have been bargaining for a new teachers contract for five months. Earlier this month the teachers union and school board released what was dubbed as their final offers. Read both proposals. Tony Demma, a speech language pathologist at Southeast Elementary School and member of the Evergreen Park Federation of Teachers …

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D124 Board and Teachers Union to Meet Next Week For Contract Talks

A meeting scheduled for Sept. 7 has been cancelled as the District 124 Board of Education reviews the union's final offer.

A resolution won't be coming this week.  The two sides were supposed to sit down on Friday Sept. 7, to discuss each others final contract term offers, but the District 124 Board of Education has rescheduled that meeting to Monday, Sept. 10 so they can have more time to review the union's offer.  The final offers of both the union and board were due to be filed with a federal mediator and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board on Thursday.  In a press release, the board announced their decision to delay the meeting to allow them more time to consider the proposal. Superintendent Dr. Robert Machak was encouraged by both sides' willingness to hammer out an agreement.  “The vote to authorize a strike is a strategy that is used often,” …

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