On Friday March 15 our bargaining team again met with the CMO. At their request, the CMO presented a package proposal (can only be accepted or rejected as a whole) of what they believed would settle all issues for a final contract.
This proposal included a series of raises that would get all HTH employees to at least $20 per hour by July 1, 2025. Raises would be implemented as follows: Retroactive to July 1, 2023 (with full back pay) Hourly Members: 7.4% to 16.6%, with a minimum wage of $17.50 per hour Salaried Members: 7.4% Effective July 1, 2024 Hourly Members: 7.1% increase, with a minimum wage of $18.75 per hour Salaried Members: 6.7% increase Effective July 1, 2025 Hourly Members: 6.6% increase, with a minimum wage of $20 per hour Salaried Members: 6.3% increase In total, salaried members would receive substantial back pay and a total compounded pay increase of 21.8% phased in over the next 15 months. Hourly employees would see between a 22.7% and 32.9% increase over that same period. The proposal would also provide salary placement credit for all years of experience prior to being employed at HTH and credit for each year of service at HTH, meaning that some members may qualify for a higher placement than what they’re currently receiving. Despite this significant move in the right direction when it comes to pay, the proposal contained multiple sections that cause concern for our bargaining team. This includes:
While we are significantly closer to a finalized contract that can be presented to members for ratification, these outstanding issues must be addressed before we can sign a tentative agreement. We hope to have another bargaining date scheduled in April just after spring break. In Solidarity, HTEC Classified Bargaining Committee Socorro Castaneda, Custodian (Point Loma) Roman Cardenas, Academic Coach (HTHCV) Jocelyn Flores, Village Program Manager (HTHNC) Maricela Ginori, Custodian (Point Loma) Daniel Ortiz, Maintenance Technician (Mesa) Joanna Sandoval, Academic Coach (HTHCV) On Monday, March 4 our bargaining team met with the CMO to continue bargaining our first contract.
Our bargaining team was finally able to present a counterproposal to the CMO on wages for classified members. We proposed an 18.7-percent across the board raise for all classified members, which would allow our hourly rates to start at $20/hr. We stressed with the CMO how we have members earning less than many of the students whom we directly support, and that fully staffing High Tech schools will always be impossible if we can’t offer hourly rates that are competitive, not only with other schools, but with other job opportunities that exist. Our second proposal covered safety and attempts to guarantee basic, common sense measures to ensure classified employees can work without endangering their health and safety. This includes the availability of safety equipment and training, and proper notification of potential unsafe situations, including when assigned to support a student with a documented history of violent behavior or threats. ______________________________________________ The CMO provided a counter proposal for discipline and evaluations. While these proposals bring us closer to agreement on the topics, they still fall short in key ways. The CMO’s discipline proposal allows for the CMO to skip steps of the progressive discipline process at their discretion. We believe this is a problem, as it undermines the entire concept of progressive discipline to address specific concerns. Their evaluation proposal does not guarantee that ACs will receive professional development that is relevant to that which teachers receive, furthering a disconnect that impacts students when classified and certificated unit members are not on the same page. ______________________________________________ While we didn’t reach any agreements this week, both teams agreed to make bargaining a priority and scheduled an additional meeting prior to the start of spring break, on March 15. In Solidarity, HTEC Classified Bargaining Committee Socorro Castaneda, Custodian (Point Loma) Roman Cardenas, Academic Coach (HTHCV) Jocelyn Flores, Village Program Manager (HTHNC) Maricela Ginori, Custodian (Point Loma) Daniel Ortiz, Maintenance Technician (Mesa) Joanna Sandoval, Academic Coach (HTHCV) |
Reach out:Stay in touch, follow us, and sign up for updates here. Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|