On Friday April 19 our bargaining team met with the CMO to present a counteroffer to their March 15 comprehensive package proposal. Package proposals can only be accepted or rejected as a whole. While the CMO’s last proposal provided pay increases that are significant, it was lacking in several other areas that we believe need to be addressed to provide a first contract that truly respects the work of school support staff.
In response, we presented a package proposal of our own that accepts the school’s proposed pay increase and most of the school’s other demands tied to it. Our proposal differed from the CMO’s proposal in the following ways:
HOW DID THE CMO RESPOND? Despite our belief that the proposal was reasonable and moved us closer to settling the entire contract, the CMO representatives responded with anger. They were upset that our team didn’t accept their March 15 proposal in full and that we attempted to improve areas beyond just wages. They were shocked that we believe improved salaries without improved respect for us as professionals wasn’t enough to accept. They threatened that without accepting their proposal now, they could take away their offer for higher pay – despite this being a potential sign of bad faith bargaining in violation of state law. They even accused certificated staff of manipulating our bargaining team to push for things that would benefit them. We aren’t shocked by these divide and conquer tactics to pressure us into accepting a proposal that provides no real job protections or due process rights. Our siblings on the certificated bargaining team shared similar experiences, and we remain strong in our desire to settle a fair and just contract. WHAT’S NEXT? The CMO did not provide us with a counterproposal on Friday. They will suggest future dates when we can continue the discussion. In the meantime, check in with your site representatives to discuss plans for rallies in support of our members at all four villages on May 9. 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) Last month, teachers at HTe and HTeX expressed concerns over the lack of information and teacher input regarding the Transitional Kindergarten (TK) program that HTH plans to implement at both schools in the 2024-2025 school year. In response to those concerns, HTEC asserted our members’ rights to bargain over the impacts and effects of the TK program so that HTe and HTeX teachers would have a seat at the decision-making table.
To prepare for negotiations, HTEC organized a TK bargain input session for the Point Loma elementary schools on March 21st to gather unit members’ priorities regarding implementation of the program. Subsequently, two teachers from each elementary school volunteered to serve on the TK bargaining team and were officially confirmed by unanimous vote of the HTEC officers. On Tuesday, our bargaining team met with the CMO for our first TK bargaining session. We used the meeting with the CMO to gather information about the implementation of the TK program and to ask questions about how the CMO intends to address specific concerns that teachers from both schools have raised. We then used the information they shared with us to present an initial proposal, which addresses the following areas:
Our team explained each section of the proposal to the CMO and responded to their questions. They will consider our proposal and will offer us dates for the next session, where we will anticipate their response. In Solidarity, The TK Bargaining Team Ricardo Borja, High Tech Elementary Starry Krueger, High Tech Elementary Vanesa Murrieta, High Tech Elementary Explorer Nikki Szudlo, High Tech Elementary Explorer Hayden Gore, HTEC President |
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