Western Springs Workers Get Raises In New Union Pact

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs trustees this week approved a new contract with a union representing nine public works employees.

The three-year agreement is retroactive to April, when the last one expired.

The employees, who are represented by Teamsters Local 700, are set to get 3 percent raises this year and next and a 2.5 percent increase in 2025.

Also, some steps in the pay range will see "good-sized" market increases, Deputy Village Manager Casey Biernacki told the Village Board.

"This is to make sure that we're competitive in the market," he said. "When we look at our wages every time we do contract negotiations, we want to make sure we're comparable to communities that are like us. So those market adjustments make sense, keep us competitive."

He said the raises were similar to what patrol officers and sergeants recently received in their latest contracts.

Negotiations with the Teamsters started shortly after the old agreement expired, Biernacki said.

"I'm happy to say that after a couple of meetings, we came to a tentative agreement, which the union has since ratified," he said.

Negotiations with the public works union were quicker than those with the officers and sergeants unions.

The officers went without a contract for a year, while sergeants did so for two years. Their pay raises were retroactive.