Update from IEA President Cinda Klickna

Dear colleagues,    We want to provide you with an update on the effort by the labor coalition to reach agreement with Senate President Cullerton on pension legislation. The coalition's goal was, and is, to reach agreement on a constitutional and fair proposal that will shore up the state pension systems, ensure our members receive the pensions they have been promised and improve the state's fiscal situation.   No Agreement Our talks with President Cullerton are continuing. As of this writing, there is no agreement between Cullerton and the coalition. We don't know whether or when an agreement will be reached but, as we have been directed by the IEA Board to do, we have worked diligently to reach a fair, constitutional agreement.   Webinar As you know from bargaining your own contracts, there is a limit to what can and should be communicated while talks are taking place. That is the case here, as the coalition and Cullerton have agreed to not speak publicly about the talks. However, that will change on Monday evening when President Cullerton presents to his caucus the labor coalition's proposal. Also Monday evening, at approximately the same time, IEA governance and management will be presenting details of the proposal to IEA Board members, local presidents and staff via a webinar. You will receive the details on the webinar via email as soon as they become available.   We wish we could tell you more right now, but we can't. We might have an agreement with the Senate President by next week, but we might not. Honestly, we really don't know what will happen. All we know is that the coalition has remained unified during an incredibly time-consuming and often gut-wrenching process.   Knowing that we enjoy the strong support of the IEA Executive Committee and IEA Board means a great deal. We thank them. Please watch your email box between now and Monday for webinar details. We are aware the notice will come too late for some and we apologize for any inconvenience, but we're doing our best to keep everyone informed about this most important fight.   Thank you.