A series of unexpected problems has delayed efforts to schedule a mediator to restart the stalled contract talks between District 186 and the Springfield teachers’ union.
The talks broke down earlier this month, after Springfield Education Association members voted last month to reject the initial proposed contract. District 186 says it faxed a request to the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board seeking a mediator. But the board’s fax machine was out of service and the request was not initially received… a fact that wasn’t discovered until WMAY News inquired about the status of the talks this week. Even so, the IELRB says using one of its mediators could cost 12-hundred to 18-hundred dollars a day, and says a federal mediator could be found at no cost.
However, the person who handled federal mediation in the Springfield area is relocating out of state, so the two sides are still trying to identify a mediator so that new talks can be scheduled.
