On Wednesday our bargaining team met with the CMO to continue bargaining our first classified union contract.
The CMO made six proposals covering wages, benefits, hours, leaves, employment status (probationary period), and layoffs. Highlights of their proposals include:
While we recognize this as progress and a step in the right direction, the salary proposal is significantly lacking for the majority of our members. We also believe classified staff should receive the same benefits and leave allowances as teachers. Our bargaining team made three proposals before running out of time in our scheduled three hour meeting. All three of our proposals were based on the teachers’ union contract and were accepted as tentative agreements. Tentative agreements are signed and set aside to be ratified with the rest of the contract once full agreement is reached. The three agreements include the grievance process, bargaining process for future contracts, and how the school complies with state laws around union membership and dues deductions. Full HTEC Proposals Full CMO Proposals 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) Rally for Fair Pay at the HTH Board Meeting
When: Wednesday, November 1st at 5:00pm Where: HTH Mesa, Conference Room 600 On the very week that US News and World Report declared San Diego the ”Most Expensive Place to Live in the US,” HTH Chairman of the Board Gary Jacobs and interim CEO Dr. Kaleb Rashad sent out a bargaining update to families in which they “recommit to paying our teachers in a way that is smart, balanced and financially prudent.” However, the email fails to inform families about exactly what they have offered HTH teachers at the bargaining table: a meager 4% salary increase, even though HTH has received an 8.22% cost of living adjustment increase in funding this year from the State of California. In response, we are calling on all staff, parents and community allies to attend this Wednesday’s IN PERSON board meeting to tell Kaleb, Gary, and the rest of the HTH Board that quality education requires investment in the teachers and support staff that design the curriculum and projects at HTH, facilitate the learning, and differentiate instruction to meet the learning needs of all our students. Please join us to let them know that you cannot get deeper learning without deeper investment in the classroom. Attend the board meeting, wear blue, and show them that we will stand strong and united until we get the support that we need and our students deserve! Fill out the Public Comment Request Form by 5:00pm on Tuesday, October 31st to add your name to the list of speakers and make your voice heard! On Thursday morning, our bargaining team met with the CMO to continue discussions around salary increases for this school year.
They presented a counterproposal of a 4-percent across the board raise for all teachers, SLPs, and school psychologists, with an 8.22-percent raise for hourly apprentices, academic support teachers, and interns. Our bargaining team quickly caucused to discuss their proposal and put together a counterproposal of an 8-percent across the board raise (salary schedules only), with the same hourly employees receiving the 8.22-percent raise as the CMO previously agreed. While the CMO did receive an 8.22-percent cost of living increase in per pupil funding for 2023-24, our bargaining team recognizes that other areas of the school budget have increased beyond that amount. In addition, the CMO previously agreed to increase their contribution to the cost of employee health care benefits which keeps money in the pockets of our members. We presented our proposal to the CMO with approximately 80-minutes remaining in our scheduled three-hour meeting. The CMO broke for a caucus and almost immediately notified us that they wouldn’t have time to draft a counterproposal today, but they’re available to meet again on December 6 from 1 to 4 p.m. At this point it is clear to our bargaining team that three hour sessions are not long enough to have a good back-and-forth trading of proposals. Prior to scheduling Thursday’s session we requested that the CMO be available for more than three hours. We were told it wouldn’t be possible for this meeting but that we would discuss scheduling longer sessions in the future. Despite this, the CMO offered no other availability until that three hour window on December 6. We believe that the CMO needs to make bargaining and the needs of HTEC members a priority. Site Reps will be in touch with members about how we can put pressure on the CMO to settle our salary reopener quickly. In Solidarity, The HTEC Certificated Bargaining Team Hayden Gore, HTM Chula Vista Grady Gumner, HTE Mesa Charley Jacob, HTH North County Jennifer Merrill, HTE Point Loma Chris Mutter, HTH International Chris Olivas, HTM North County Carly Sumrow, HTM Chula Vista Mary Williams, HTM Point Loma This fall, both certificated and classified staff across all our schools held elections to fill vacant officer positions. We are thrilled to introduce your newest democratically elected leaders:
HTEC President:
HTEC Certificated Vice President:
HTEC Classified Vice President:
Click here to see the full election results HTEC would like to thank all of the candidates that participated in this election for their willingness to support the union and strengthen our democratic structures. |
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