Judge rules Cahokia school district broke labor law at start of last year
In the midst of tumultuous union contract negotiations, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board recently found Cahokia Unit School District 187 engaged in unfair labor practices at the start of last school year.
The Illinois Public Labor Relations Act protects educational employees’ right to form and participate in, as well as collectively bargain through representatives of, any labor organization. In his decision, Administrative Law Judge John F. Brosnan said district leadership infringed on these employee rights at August 2024’s Welcome Wagon, an event in which employees visit students at the end of summer break and give out school supplies.
“By their words and actions, viewed objectively from the standpoint of a reasonable employee, (Superintendent Curtis) McCall (Jr.) and (Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Tanya) Mitchell conveyed to the District’s gathered employees (that) the Union was ineffectual and it was futile to trust it could make gains on their behalf,” Brosnan wrote. “And, accordingly, those words and actions had the effect of coercing, restraining or interfering with those employees’ exercise of protected rights.”
Brosnan alleged the following in his decision:
- McCall “degraded and belittled” Union efforts to advocate for those it represents in a speech he gave to employees at the 2024 Welcome Wagon.
- McCall said in his speech that the union’s messaging was convoluted and that staff should get information directly from him instead of the union.
- In his speech, McCall criticized union safety concerns brought up in an earlier bargaining session and the union’s attempt to make the 2024 Welcome Wagon voluntary for staff in that session.
- McCall and Mitchell humiliated Cahokia Federation of Teachers Local 1252 President Wendy Lochmann and Vice President Erin Reeb by making them ride in the back of police cars instead of on buses with the other employees during the Welcome Wagon
- McCall and Mitchell broke an agreement with the union to accommodate employees with physical limitations by making those employees stack chairs while their colleagues greeted students.
McCall disputes the allegations in the ruling.
“Neither myself nor the school district broke the law, that’s No. 1,” McCall said. “And No. 2, we didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Quite honestly, I’m not understanding the complaint itself.”
Brosnan’s decision is in response to an unfair labor practice charge Cahokia Federation of Teachers Local 1272 filed in February.
Initially, the district issued a response that denied it broke the law. Later, instead of participating in a scheduled hearing, the district accepted a default judgment, Brosnan’s decision says. McCall said the district accepted the default judgment because having a hearing meant traveling to Chicago, and that was not possible when actively negotiating contracts and other commitments the district had at the time.
Brosnan ordered that the district no longer infringe on the employees’ rights granted by the Act, that the district post signed copies of a notice relating to the ruling for 60 days and that the district notify the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board within 20 days of steps taken to comply with the order.
“The ruling is very important because it validates our rights to have a union and be part of the union without our members being intimidated by the superintendent,” said Union President Wendy Lochmann, who is also a Cahokia High English teacher.
McCall said the accusations levied in the charge are not true. He said he did not make remarks that disparaged the union in his 2024 Welcome Wagon speech, and instead encouraged staff to talk to him if they were concerned about safety. He said the Cahokia Heights Police Chief asked that Reeb and Lochmann ride with him so that he could quell any concerns about safety.
Lastly, McCall said that “nobody was told to do anything or forced to do anything that they couldn’t do.” People who did not ride on the buses were given tasks that accommodated their physical limitations.
He said the union filed the complaint because it was upset that he made the 2024 Welcome Wagon mandatory for staff. It was previously voluntary. This school year’s Welcome Wagon was also mandatory and went smoothly, McCall said.
Contract negotiations
The decision comes as the union and district wade through contentious contract negotiations. Teachers have been working more than 40 days without a current contract. A contract with secretaries and service workers expired more than 100 days ago.
McCall said much of the delay comes from a large volume of changes the district proposed — ones he said are in the best interest of students. But Lochmann said the district’s proposals ultimately strip worker protections and other provisions that help employees, and benefit administration rather than students.
Ray Roskos, the Illinois Federation of Teachers field service director who assists Local 1272, said the district’s conduct throughout negotiations and the events that transpired at the 2024 Welcome Wagon are part of a pattern of McCall disrespecting the union.
“(The Welcome Wagon) kind of set the tone going into negotiations for how he treated my union leaders,” Roskos said. “I would say there is no relationship with the district (now) — and that itself is a problem.”
McCall said the notion that the district was disrespectful of the union by mandating staff attend the Welcome Wagon event is “ludicrous,” and that the contract negotiations have nothing to do with the 2024 event.
“The district isn’t disrespecting the union by having them go into the neighborhoods of the students that they serve,” McCall said. “If staff members are good enough to come here to receive a paycheck, they should be good enough to once a year go into the community to provide school supplies and welcome the students back to school.”
