Parker Carbine, a 17 year-old candidate for Homecoming King in McHenry.
Early this morning striking high school teachers in McHenry, an hour northwest of Chicago, reached a tentative agreement with the school board. The teachers have been on strike since a week ago Thursday. Bargaining has been going on since April.
Congratulations and details later.
In what appears to be some common sense on the part of the McHenry, Illinois school board, they have reconsidered their decision to cut off health insurance.
We had reported earlier that a union member who had just given birth and was fighting cancer and on leave FMLA leave had her insurance coverage revoked.
I’m glad to report that the board has reconsidered.
This from the teachers union in McHenry:
As of this morning, the association received verbal confirmation that insurance for all members will be reinstated. Last night, members of the Board of Education reconsidered the path that had been taken on insurance and righted this wrong. We appreciate their willingness to change their minds and show a clear display of good will. That said, we truly appreciate the outpouring of support from our community as well. We cannot do this without you.
Schools remain closed with no bargaining scheduled until Thursday in McHenry, an hour northwest of Chicago. By Thursday, McHenry schools will have been closed for one week.
The McHenry teachers are fighting to preserve their salary schedule.
In a heavy-handed move that can only be described as cruel and heartless, the board has cut-off health insurance to the striking teachers.
We have saddening news to share with all of you. While we as teachers understand and accept the risks involved with a strike, there are several teachers that have not participated in the process due to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The School Board chose to cancel all of our Health Insurance policies (including those on FMLA) as of October 1st. This is truly disheartening for our members. For those out on FMLA, this is devastating. One of our members is currently fighting the battle of her life against breast cancer. She discovered this disease while pregnant with her 3rd child. She chose to fight for herself and her child, finding a way to fight the cancer and save the life of her baby. This situation has a tragic sense of irony as the School Board chose Breast Cancer Awareness Month to cancel her insurance plan. She gave birth to a healthy beautiful baby girl on October 2nd. Her fight continues.
We understand that this negotiation procedure is emotional and challenging for all stakeholders. But, there is no need to lose our humanity in the process. We had hoped that compassion and understanding would win out. We ask the board to reconsider penalizing those staff members that are on FMLA.
What many board members fail to realize is that often times strikes happen. It is a part of the collective bargaining process.
Unless their objective is to bust the union rather than come to a fair agreement, then the strike will be settled at some point, hopefully soon.
Actions like cutting health insurance will only poison the atmosphere between the teachers and the board for years to come.
Teachers who are members of the McHenry Community High School Education Association are on strike over issues of contract language, salary, insurance, retirement, tuition reimbursement, athletics stipends, co-curricular stipends, summer school costs, sick days, and more.
ABC is reporting:
Teachers in northwest suburban McHenry are on strike in School District 156. Classes were canceled for 2,650 students at McHenry High School’s east and west campuses on Thursday.
All extracurricular activities were also canceled.
“We are wanting to make sure that we can retain our teachers. We have 20-percent of our teachers have four or fewer years of experience and we want to keep those teachers in our district before they go on to another district that will compensate them better and give them better benefits,” Heidie Dunn, teachers union, said.
Contract negotiations, which began in March, between the teachers union and district officials broke off around 1 a.m. Thursday. Teachers have been working without a contract since it expired in June.
The MCHSEA website is here.
Strike headquarters is located at 4117 Shamrock Lane in McHenry, Illinois.
Please go to the Facebook page and give your support.
Fred Klonsky 