7 hours of talks, still no agreement between Streator Elementary board, union

After seven hours of contract negotiations, the Streator Elementary school board believes progress was made, while the Streator Education Association said talks didn’t go as well as the board portrayed.

The Streator Education Association said it made sacrifices on wages and health insurance. In response, the board didn’t budge, the union said.

“They move numbers around but they all equal the same end result,” the Education Association’s leadership said in a statement to Shaw Local News Network. “That result is no agreement and an increasing possibility of a strike. The board did get one part right in their Facebook post; we did try to negotiate with them for seven hours. In those seven hours, we kept giving and they kept refusing to move.

In its Facebook post, the board said an agreement wasn’t quite there, but it is hopeful a deal is on the horizon.

The two sides met for more than 7 hours Tuesday in an attempt to reach a fair contract, according to the board.

“We were buoyed by the progress made at [Tuesday’s] meeting,” Board President Angela Risley said in a statement. “The Association seems to have a new understanding and appreciation of the financial constraints the board is operating within.”

The SEA said it sent an email at 5 p.m. Tuesday: “The Association has made several concessions [Tuesday]. We are not aware of any concessions made by the Board. We attended this session to negotiate in good faith but it has not been reciprocated. Does the Board intend to allocate any more funds to the bargain than you have since your last 3.12.2025 proposal? If it is your intention to allocate more funds, we will continue to bargain today. If it is not, we will adjourn”

The SEA said it received a response from the board’s attorney: “There are no more funds to allocate, hence the last, best and final offer made on March 12. As we’ve indicated, we are happy to reallocate money within that framework and will review any offer that you send.”

“The Association will continue to work toward a settlement by negotiating a contract that restores and retains our quality employees but we cannot do it alone,” the union leadership said. “If the Board negotiates, we can reach a deal. If they continue on in the way they did [Tuesday], if they continue to throw money at everyone except their teachers and support staff, we will not.”

The SEA criticized the board’s spending on more than $55,000 in attorney fees and on a superintendent who is leaving the district.

“We couldn’t figure out, and still can’t, how the Streator community [Tuesday] paid for a superintendent who is leaving her job in about three months, an attorney who charges $845 just to drive to the meeting, then another $300 an hour for her to sit there and advise them, and her sidekick attorney, yet they still couldn’t come up with a single offer that got us closer to a deal,” the SEA leadership said.

The board anticipates another upcoming negotiation session to receive a response to the board’s latest offer.

The Streator Education Association recently gave notice of its intent to strike. The notice means that the union may strike any time beginning April 1.

The teachers and support staff union voted in January to start the 45-day clock on a potential strike. In February, the SEA initiated the public posting process, which is a prerequisite to a strike. As part of this process, the association and the board were required to submit their public posting documents to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board.