School Board Voices Support for CSEA Contract

The management and the union side agree — interest-based bargaining is working for the Piedmont Unified School District.

Interest-based bargaining is a method of bargaining in vogue in education circles in which administration and staff representatives carve up percentages of revenue and latter get some say in how their portion is used.

“Instead of battling each other, we look at each others’ interests, although we don’t always agree,” said Terra Salazar, president of Chapter 60 of the California School Employees Association.

In an atmosphere of cooperation, the school board had a first reading Wednesday of a tentative contract with Chapter 60. The school board members voiced their support for the agreement, which they are due to vote on May 11, and thanked the CSEA local for its cooperation and willingness to accept concessions in a climate of shrinking revenue coming from Sacramento.

“Everyone is marching in the same direction,” said board President Roy Tolles. “I support the contract.”

“The concessions are broad,” said Salazar, with a significant impact on members. She credited negotiators’ “spirit of respectful collaboration.”

The union agreed to caps in medical benefits that will save the district an estimated $618,000 over the three years of the contract, according to administration estimates. Also, the first year of the three-year contract includes three unpaid furlough days for CSEA members that will mean $66,000 in savings, said David Roth, assistant superintendent of educational services.

Those three days are locked in, said Salazar, with more furlough days a possibility depending on further state aid numbers that come from Sacramento later in the spring.

Chapter 60 has 120 members, including para-educators, administrative assistants, custodians, groundskeepers, clerks and library assistants.

Local members voted 27-3 for the tentative contract, Salazar said, and 26-4 for the memorandum of understanding that included the furlough day concession.

The CSEA agreement is through June 30, 2014, and provides for no salary change for 2011-12. There is a negotiating reopener for the salaries and benefits for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.

The proposed agreement includes a retirement incentive for employees reaching the ages of 56, 59 or 62 with a minimum of 15 years of service in the Piedmont Unified School District.

The pact adds a cap to current professional development increments, and creates a subcommittee of administration and CSEA unit members to develop a protocol for professional development approvals and stipends.