CPS reaches 4-year contract with SEIU 73, school support staff who went on strike in 2019
SEIU Local 73, which represents CPS support staff, has reached an agreement with the district on a new contract. In 2019, SEIU joined teachers in a strike (pictured).
Ashlee Garcia/Sun-Times
Five years after going on strike alongside the Chicago Teachers Union, the union representing school support staff this time has agreed to a new contract with Chicago Public Schools without walking out.
Service Employees International Union Local 73 reached a four-year deal earlier this week that is highlighted by a base salary of $40,000, as well as 4% raises for workers in the first two years. Workers will receive 4% or 5% raises in the following two years, the union said. SEIU 73 represents about 11,000 lunchroom workers, special education classroom assistants, security guards, custodians, crossing guards and more.
Union members will vote to ratify the deal in “the upcoming weeks,” officials said. If approved, the Chicago Board of Education will then vote on the contract.
“Support staff are the backbone of Chicago Public Schools and provide the quality education Chicago’s children deserve,” SEIU Local 73 President Dian Palmer said in a statement. “After a year-long fight, our Union members are finally being recognized for their commitment and have secured much needed raises that will greatly improve the lives of these essential workers and provide the respect they deserve.”
The $40,000 base salary was a “mutual priority” of the union and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, the SEIU 73 said. Many workers represented by the union are among the lowest-paid in the district.
“From our custodians, to our Special Education Classroom Assistants, and everyone in between, support staff professionals are at the heart of our District’s success,” Martinez said in a message to the district and parents. “These dedicated employees play a critical role, not only in advancing student learning, but in maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our city’s children, including our most vulnerable.”
The pay increases are retroactive to the current school year, the district said.
The new contract also includes additional training for special education classroom assistants, extends to union members certain holidays that were previously exclusive to teachers, and it converts seven-hour security officers to eight-hour employees, the union said.
SEIU 73 went on strike for its last contract in 2019 in a historic walkout with the CTU that shut down schools for 11 days. It was the first time the two unions had walked out of schools together. SEIU 73 reached an agreement with CPS early in that window but stayed out of schools in solidarity with the CTU, remaining on picket lines with its sister union.
SEIU 73 was one of the top financial backers of Mayor Brandon Johnson's campaign last year.