Decatur Vote Illinois
Feb 15, 2024: Decatur Vote is Temporarily Closed. See the announcement.

DFTA Union Contract

Story compiled by Reed Sutman.
  • Created
  • Updated

The Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants were bargaining for a new union contract. Their contract had expired on June 30, 2023.

A new contract was approved retroactively for July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2025. DFTA ratified it the week of September 26th, 2023. The School Board approved it on October 10th, 2023.

Service Employees International Union #73 (SEIU) Security workers were also negotiating a new contract, but this is not covered here.

Download the 2023-2025 DFTA agreement.

What DFTA wants

DFTA's biggest ask is wage increases for Teaching Assistants.

For details, see Decatur Schools giving a 'hard no' to union requests, says DFTA President

DFTA Rally | September 12th, 2023

DFTA Members and SEIU 73 members held a rally on September 12th, 2023 at the Keil Administration Building, prior to the public Board Meeting.

See Unions Rally before DPS61 Board Meeting

Also see Illinois Public Media: The newest Decatur Public Schools teaching assistants and security guards make about $19 an hour. Tuesday, they rallied for higher wages.

Federal Mediation

DFTA speakers at the September 12th Rally say the first meeting with a Federal Mediator will be Monday September 18th, 2023.

Strikes

As of September 13th, 2023, DFTA is not on strike. DFTA President Michelle Mitchell has said they hope to resolve the negotiations without a strike.

Past Union issues

DFTA also had trouble negotiating a contract in 2019. Those negotiations led to a strike, but the strike ended after the District threatened to terminate health insurance coverage.

Reporting

Reporting on the 2023 DFTA Contract

  • Aug 24, 2023

    Decatur Schools giving a 'hard no' to union requests, says DFTA President

    Decatur Vote - They've been negotiating since March and have been given a "hard no" to their requests, according to Michelle Mitchell, President of DFTA

    Learn More

  • Aug 23, 2023

    Teaching assistants still negotiating new contract

    H&R - The Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants requested a federal mediator for contract negotiations with Decatur Public Schools after the most recent meeting on Aug. 10.

    Learn More

  • Aug 23, 2023

    Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants discuss labor dispute with DPS61 on Byers & Co.

    Byers & Co - Michelle Mitchell and Susie Niesman of the Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants joined Byers & Co. to talk about their ongoing labor dispute with DPS61.

    Learn More

  • Aug 10, 2023

    Decatur teaching assistants request mediation in contract talks

    H&R - The union representing more than 300 Decatur Public Schools teaching assistants has requested a federal mediator after Thursday talks yielded “little movement,” the union said.

    Learn More

  • Aug 10, 2023

    Decatur Teaching Assistants request federal mediator in bargaining talks

    WAND - The union representing more than 300 teaching assistants in Decatur Public Schools District 61 has requested a federal mediator.

    Learn More

Timeline Design created by Overflow & modified by Reed Sutman. Timeline content created by Decatur Vote.

Articles

Decatur Public Schools held a Board of Education Meeting on September 12th, 2023 at the Keil Administration Building. Prior to the meeting, DFTA and SEIU Security rallied in an effort to pass new union contracts. DFTA President Michelle Mitchell also spoke during the meeting. All Board Members we...   See Article

Summary, 09-13-2023

The Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants union contract expired about 2 months ago, on June 30th, 2023. They've been negotiating since March and have been given a "hard no" to their requests, according to Michelle Mitchell, President of DFTA, Local #4324, and Executive Vice Preside...   See Article

Original Report, 08-24-2023

The Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants were bargaining for a new union contract. Their contract had expired on June 30, 2023. A new contract was approved retroactively for July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2025. DFTA ratified it the week of September 26th, 2023. The School Board approved it on Octob...   See Article

Summary, 08-23-2023

Tidbits

No tidbits have been added to this story...

Sources

This was sent to me by DFTA Secretary Corletta E. Murray on August 24th, 2023 via email at the request of Michelle Mitchell. It was a .docx & I converted it to pdf before uploading.   See Source

08-24-2023

Copy of the 2019-2023 DFTA Contract with Decatur Public Schools District 61   See Source

08-23-2023

The 2019-2023 Union contract with SEIU C Security and DPS61   See Source

08-23-2023