Rockford Head Start employees rally for fair contract

Rockford Head Start employees are ramping up their fight for a fair contract after years of foot-dragging by management in negotiating a new contract.

On Monday, Head Start teachers, members of AFSCME Local 1058c, were joined by supporters in a demonstration outside a City Council meeting. The teachers have been negotiating for a new contract with the city, which has refused to offer fair wage increases.

The Head Start program provides assistance for low-income families, including early education of children. Even though it is meant to help break the cycle of poverty, more than one-third of the city’s Head Start teachers who work full-time are paid poverty-level wages.

Wages have remained stagnant for Head Start teachers while others have made progress.

"While everyone else has been getting raises, this bargaining unit hasn't," Council 31 staff representative Ed Sadlowski told the Register Star News. "Their bosses have all gotten raises. All the other unionized workers have gotten raises, but the city refuses to invest a dime in Head Start."