CHAMPAIGN — Custodians, assistant teachers and other support staff in the Champaign Unit 4 School District are all making at least $15 an hour, as of July 1.
Both the school board and members of the Champaign Educational Support Professionals union approved a new, four-year contract last week.
“Knowing what we proposed in the very beginning, and where we wound up, this is easily the biggest contract that’s ever happened for CESP. And that’s a huge win for all of us,” says union president Jamie Sussen.
Despite being voted into the president’s seat just this spring, Sussen has been involved in contract negotiations throughout the year.
Under the contract, the school district’s lowest paid, unionized workers – like first-year bus monitors – get a raise, from under $13 an hour to $15.50.
Unit 4 Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Ken Kleber says the district raised wages to keep up with other employers in the region.
“The world is just more competitive. Quite frankly, some of our positions were sort of out of balance with market conditions,” Kleber says.
He says the raises also help the district pre-empt state minimum wage laws.
By state law, the district would have to pay at least $13 an hour, starting in January 2023. The $15 minimum wage goes into effect in 2025.
CESP members approved the contract in a 100-to-20 vote. The Unit 4 Board of Education then approved it unanimously.
Sussen says there are about 700 support professionals and about half are union members....
Manon Jacob and Anuj Chopra From false claims that a historic lunar fly-by was staged in a movie studio to unfounded narratives that footage of the crew was AI-generated, the Artemis II mission ha...