After about ten months of negotiations, and threats of a strike, teachers in the East Moline School District have a new contract. Thursday members of the East Moline Education Association ratified the tentative agreement that had been reached with the school board just one day earlier.
According to the union, the two year contract runs through June of next year (2018). Teachers will receive an increase in their base pay of 1 1/4 per cent each year, plus step increases. Wages for paraprofessionals and secretaries will go up 75 cents per hour.
Association co-president-elect, Amanda Weber, says the new contract will help union members catch up with neighboring schools. And "We’re so happy that we’ll be with our students all day, every day for the rest of the school year!”
The East Moline Education Association represents over 260 teachers, paraprofessionals, and secretaries in the East Moline School District.