Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Service Employees International Union, Local 73, Reach Tentative New Four-Year Agreement

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CHICAGO-Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 73, announced Wednesday a tentative four-year contract agreement to better compensate the support staff professionals who serve the District's more than 328,000 students, including many of our most vulnerable students. Under the agreement, every full-time SEIU member will earn at least $40,000 a year, a mutual priority of CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and SEIU Local 73 President Dian Palmer.

"These critical support staff professionals carry out vital work in our schools each day, supporting teaching and learning and ensuring the safety and well being of our students," CEO Martinez said. "This agreement reflects our District's commitment to a fair and equitable contract."

The tentative agreement calls for a four percent raise for the first two years, beginning with a retroactive pay increase for this past year (2023-24 ) and next school year while members will see a four to five percent increase for the last two years (2025-26 and 2026-27), dependent on CPI. The agreement also ensures that full-time SEIU Local 73 members begin with a baseline salary of at least $40,000.

"Support staff are the backbone of Chicago Public Schools and provide the quality education Chicago's children deserve," said Dian Palmer, President of SEIU Local 73. "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."

Some additional benefits of the new agreement are as follows:

• Provides more professional development, including more training for special education classroom assistants.
• Converts all seven-hour security officers to eight-hour employees.
• Extends Board Policy 4-10 - Religious holiday, previously exclusive for teachers, to SEIU Local 73 members.
• Elevates the voices of SEIU Local 73 members through various committees, with inclusion in a safety committee and another on SEIU performance evaluations.

Negotiations took place over the past year. SEIU Local 73 members are scheduled to vote to ratify the contract in the upcoming weeks and it will then go before the Chicago Board of Education for approval.

About Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is dedicated to providing a high-quality education to all students, beginning with the District's free full-day preschool programming for four-year-old scholars and continuing through neighborhood, magnet and selective-enrollment elementary schools that provide a rigorous K-8 education with schools that specialize in the fine arts, world language and culture, dual language, STEM, International Baccalaureate (IB), classical programs, and more. The rising District-wide freshmen-on-track and high school graduation rates reflect the hard work of the CPS community, including families, staff, and students across 635 schools. CPS celebrates the diversity of its more than 323,000 students who cite 182 home languages. Learn more about CPS at www.cps.edu and connect with CPS on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About Service Employees International Union

SEIU Local 73 represents more than 35,000 workers, primarily in public service and publicly funded positions in school districts, municipalities, social service agencies, and many other job classifications in Illinois and Indiana. We are dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families.