Woodland Staff Deserve Wages Comparable to Faculty, Staff Salaries at Other Lake County School Districts, Says LCFT President; Woodland Staff to Protest at Tonight's School Board Meeting.

GURNEE, Ill., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers and school support staff of Woodland Elementary District 50 plan to attend tonight's school board meeting to protest the district's refusal to bargain a contract with the union representing nearly 900 employees. After more than five hours of waiting Tuesday for a counteroffer to the union's latest proposal, it became clear that the board was not interested in settling the contract, and the union left the negotiating table.

"Our latest proposal was given to the board more than a week ago, and they did not make a serious counteroffer," said Lake County Federation of Teachers, Local 504 President Mike McGue. "Their unwillingness to bargain in good faith has been evident since the beginning of this process."

In February, the Woodland Council of Local 504, which represents the 550 teachers and 350 support staff in the district, made an official request to bargain. The union presented a comprehensive set of contract proposals to the Board in early March. "It took the Board and their attorney until June to respond to our first set of proposals," said McGue. "We were willing to bargain throughout last weekend to achieve a settlement, and the board refused."

At the heart of the dispute are union efforts to begin to bring wages for Woodland staff to levels comparable to salaries paid in other Lake county school districts.

"Beginning teachers in this district have one of the lowest salaries in Lake county," said McGue. "Wages for some full-time support staff are three thousand dollars below the poverty level for a family of four."

Average salaries in the district are $39,298, more than $10,000 below the state of Illinois average teacher salary. That disparity contributes to a "brain drain," where employees leave Woodland after a few years to work in districts with higher salaries.

"Until we catch up to salaries paid by neighboring districts, we will never be able to retain teachers and support staff," said McGue. "Woodland students deserve a stable, experienced staff, and Woodland staff members deserve to earn salaries comparable to those paid by other Lake County districts."

Woodland staff members plan to gather tonight at 6pm at the Intermediate Center, 1115 North Hunt Club Road, before the school board meeting, which begins at 6:30pm in the building cafeteria.

The Lake County Federation of Teachers represents 5,500 pre-K-12 teachers, paraprofessionals and school support personnel, higher education faculty and staff and public employees. LCFT is affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois AFL-CIO.

CONTACT: Mike McGue, [phone], ext. 20, cell, [phone], or Arnavaz Mistry, [phone], ext. 22, both of Illinois Federation of Teachers