Proposing a 22% Raise and a $20/hr Minimum Wage
On Wednesday August 9, our bargaining team met with the Charter Management Organization (CMO) for a second bargaining session to discuss proposals that will lead to our first union contract. A central part of our A Village United and Protected bargaining platform is to ensure that employees can afford to work at High Tech High. We love supporting our students and school communities, and all of our members deserve to receive more than minimum wage to do so. That’s why we presented an initial wage proposal with an accompanying pay scale (job classifications are numbered 1 through 6 while defined on page three and years of service are lettered A through K) that provides an across-the-board salary increase of 22-percent for all classified members while also setting a minimum hourly rate of $20 an hour. We’ve heard too many stories of support staff struggling to make ends meet and being forced to leave HTH because the pay is not financially sustainable. Our proposal is a start to making HTH a place where people can afford to work and thrive. The proposal prevents situations like last year, where all other employees except our classified union members received a raise, by including an equity clause. We would receive at least the same size raise as teachers or any other employee group classification in future years. On top of the across-the-board pay increases, our proposal provides additional pay for members working outside of their job classification (at the rate the higher classification would receive), nights (5 percent bonus), split shifts with a least an hour unpaid between shifts (5 percent bonus), hazardous assignments (10 percent bonus), and weekends and holidays (double time). While the CMO did not provide a response to our proposal yesterday, we look forward to receiving a counter proposal soon. The CMO made two proposals yesterday: a counter offer to our Employment Status proposal from our first bargaining session in June and a new proposal on Leaves. CMO Proposal - Employment Status In June we proposed eliminating “at-will” employment status (the ability to fire employees without reason or cause) after completing a 90-day probationary period. This would provide job security in knowing that we can only be let go with due process after successfully completing probation. While the school largely agreed with creating an “introductory”/“established” period of employment similar to what teachers successfully bargained for, they proposed keeping the teachers’ probationary period of three years. This does not recognize the fundamental differences in the job that exists between support staff and teachers. We do not believe that directors and supervisors need three years to determine if we are effective in our jobs. CMO Proposal - Leaves The CMO’s leaves proposal copies the policies for sick leave, vacation days, and holidays that currently exist within the school’s Employee Handbook. Sick leave would be earned at a rate of 1 hour of leave for every 30 hours worked and capped at 80 hours. Members would not be able to accrue additional time once they reach the cap unless they use time to lower the amount they’ve accrued. The teachers’ contract contains no cap on sick leave and allows them to earn 10 sick days per school at a rate of 1 hour leave for every 19 hours worked. Next Steps Our next bargaining session is scheduled for August 31. With students and staff returning to Villages, please make sure to check in with HTEC Site Representatives at your school to find out how you can support our ability to bargain a strong first contract. In Solidarity, HTEC Classified Bargaining Committee Socorro Castaneda, Custodian (Point Loma) Jocelyn Flores, Village Program Manager (HTHNC) Daniel Ortiz, Maintenance Technician (Mesa) Joanna Sandoval, Academic Coach (HTHCV) |
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