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Employee Group Updates
CSEA REPORTS
CUMA REPORTS
CUTA REPORTS
DISTRICT REPORTS
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| | CSEA (California School Employees Association, Chapter 110)
CUMA (Chico Unified Management Association)
CUTA (Chico Unified Teachers Association) | |
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| | Chapter President: SUSAN COX | |
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| | ****September 15, 2010****
CSEA's Negotiation Team met with the District on August 23, 2010.
Each group prioritized issues from our pending proposals:
CSEA: - Binding Arbitration is still a top priority.
- Split Shifts (Article 3.1) - refine language.
- Hours Assigned (Article 5.4) - add aunt/uncle to list of immediate family members, and allow more flexibility as to when leave may be taken.
- Layoff & Impact and Effects of Layoff (Article 4.1) - Refine language.
- Holidays - Make New Year's Eve Day a permanent holiday.
- Evaluations/Personnel Files/Organization Security - Delete all of Article 10 (Evaluations), move current language in Article 12.1-12.4 into Article 10 and rename Article 10 to "Organizational Security".
CUSD: - Change the minimum number of years of service from five to ten before a CSEA member may retire with paid medical benefits.
- Extend probationary period from six months to twelve months.
- Negotiate change to the stipend allowed to employees who provide toileting assistance to students.
Some pressing issues that were resolved:
- Change language of Article 7.5 - Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - The District is currently paying $3.00 per month per CSEA employee for the EAP, which is now included in the BSSP plan. We reached a Tentative Agreement and our members voted yes on the issue at our Chapter meeting on September 14.
- Discussed District suggested CSEA eliminations/reductions.
- Aeries data transfer issues pertaining to registrars. (Thank you to the District team for working to resolve this issue!)
- Discussed the impact of moving Independent Study students to the high schools and to Parkview.
- Dicussed the impact of furlough days to employees and redefined the process of reporting and "paying" for furlough days.
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| | * * * * March 3, 2010 * * * * - We have ratified the tentative agreement on paying for last year's Golden Handshake. However, so far the District has failed to present it to the Board for ratification.
- We also sent a formal demand that they honor the contract and open a Golden Handshake window period this year at no cost to members.
- Our contract expires next year so we will be ratifying a comprehensive Initial Proposal to the District next week before the Chapter meeting.
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| | ****March 23, 2011**** There is nothing new to report. | |
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| | ****February 16, 2011**** There is nothing new to report. | |
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| | ****January 19, 2011**** No Change - The Chico Unified Management Association, CUMA, is ready for the salary reduction and furlough day schedule that creates parity with the CUSD/CUTA agreement that will be implemented in January. | |
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| | ****December 15, 2010**** The Chico Unified Management Association, CUMA, is ready for the salary reduction and furlough day schedule that creates parity with the CUSD/CUTA agreement that will be implemented in January. | |
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| | ****November 17, 2010**** The Chico Unified Management Association, CUMA, has developed a salary reduction and furlough day schedule that creates parity with the CUSD/CUTA agreement. This reduction will be implemented in January but will yield the full year reduction.
While CUMA members had all prepared for a larger compensation reduction, we are relieved that the unexpected funding from the educational-friendly state budget and the Jobs bill reduced the district's financial deficit. We also recognize that there is a current state deficit of $6 billion which has the potential of changing the educational financing for CUSD.
Joanne Parsley and I would like to commend and thank all of the CUMA members for their flexibility and patience as we prepared for these reductions. The CUMA members have always expressed their support for CUSD, the Board, Kelly, Bob and Jan.
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| | ****October 20, 2010**** If the Board ratifies the 2010/2011 CUTA tentative proposal tonight, CUMA will follow with an equitable amount of furlough days and the associated salary reduction. The specifics of the CUMA plans will be defined after this evening's Board decision.
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| | ****September 15, 2010**** CUMA's sub-groups are preparing their 8.12% compensation reduction plans. The specific details have not been formally documented at this time. CUMA will have their plans for the changes to the administrative salary schedules for when reductions are implemented across the CUSD employee bargaining units.
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| | ****August 18, 2010**** CUMA's sub-groups are preparing their 8.12% compensation reduction plans. The specific details have not been formally documented at this time. CUMA will have their plans for the changes to the administrative salary schedules for when reductions are implemented across the CUSD employee bargaining units.
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| | **** June 16, 2010 **** Kelly, Jan, and Bob met with CUMA on June 3, 2010, for any last questions. Now, the CUMA members can meet with their peers to work on their sub group packages. CUMA will have their plans for the changes to the administrative salary schedules for when reductions are implemented across the CUSD employee bargaining units. | |
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| | **** May 19, 2010 **** Kelly, Jan, and Bob have been working collaboratively with Cabinet on answering the questions from the CUMA members. A final version of the answers was Received last week. This final version will be emailed to the CUMA members this week with an invite for a CUMA meeting scheduled for June 3. This meeting will be where CUMA members can meet with their peers, Kelly, Jan, and Bob to work on their sub group package. CUMA hopes to have our plans developed by July 1 so that when reductions are implemented across the board, the changes to the administrative salary schedules can be accomplished. | |
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| | * * * * April 21, 2010 * * * * Kelly, Jan, and Bob have been working collaboratively with Cabinet on answering the questions from the CUMA members. A final version of the answers is being drafted by Kelly, Jan, and Bob now. Joanne and I will distribute the final answers to the CUMA members via email when we get them. A scheduled Leadership meeting on Thursday, May 13 will be used for the CUMA members and Kelly, Jan, and Bob to meet. The CUMA sub groups will continue to work on their plans after the May meeting. CUMA hopes to have our plan developed by July 1 so that when reductions are implemented across the board, the changes to the administrative salary schedules can be accomplished. | |
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| | * * * * April 7, 2010 * * * * The CUMA members have completed their list of questions for Kelly, Jan, and Bob regarding possible options for compensation reductions. The CUMA members drafted 30 questions that included topics from wanting more details about the deficit, how many furlough days are feasible and what the new medical benefit rates would be. The Cabinet team met with Kelly, Jan, and Bob on Monday with this list of questions. Kelly, Jan, and Bob will now prepare their responses for CUMA. The CUMA members will begin meeting to design their compensation reductions when we have these answers. The July 1 timeframe remains as our goal. | |
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| | * * * * March 24, 2010 * * * * The March 11th Leadership/CUMA meeting was held to discuss the 8.12% compensation reduction for 2010/11. CUMA members are creating a list of questions regarding options for Kelly, Jan, and Bob to review. This communication will be finalized and submitted next week. The review and research process will take a few weeks. The CUMA subgroups will start to develop their compensation plans once the questions/options have been answered. The expectation is to have these plans in place before 7/1/10. | |
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| | * * * * March 3, 2010 * * * * Historically, the CUMA bargaining unit follows the agreements made by CSEA or CUTA. There were not many differences over the years until recently.
2008/2009
In 2008/2009 CUMA voluntarily reduced their Health & Welfare (H&W) medical cap from the Silver plan to the Red plan. This was a cost savings to the district of over $900 per CUMA member.
2009/2010
January 2010: Senior Cabinet presents 8.12% Reduction to CUMA Leadership
January 14, 2010: Overall concept of 8.12% reduction was introduced to CUMA members during regular CUMA meeting
March 11, 2010: During the scheduled Leadership meeting the real discussion of how to best meet the 8.12% reduction needed from CUMA from the various employees in CUMA will take place.
Follow-up meetings with various CUMA members will be scheduled during the year to finalize the necessary CUMA 8.12% reduction in total compensation.
2010/2011
Potential / anticipated implementation of the CUMA 8.12% reduction in total compensation through “furlough” reduced work days, reduced vacation days, salary roll backs, and H&W reductions. This activity timing may be dependent on the direction of the Superintendent and the Board. | |
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| | CUTA President: John Jenswold
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| | ****March 23, 2011****
Board Resolution 1136-11 which passed last month called for the release of 63 CUTA members assigned to Temporary positions; Board Resolution 1135-11 called for the release of 15.6 FTE permanent assignment individuals.
On the morning of March 10, Beth Curtis, our CTA attorney, and John Jenswold met with Bob Feaster and CUSD's attorney to work out a Stipulated Layoff Agreement designed to avoid the costly hearing process by coming to an agreed upon number of layoffs.
We reached agreement with 17 individuals (11.9 FTE) in permanent assignments and 39 individuals (29 FTE) in temporary assignments. This has greatly reduced the amount of stress on those involved in the layoff process. We can now focus our attention on bringing these people back in a timely manner.
With respect to an Extended Day Kindergarten program, the respective bargaining teams have reached a Tentative Agreement that involves pilot contract language for the 2011-2012 school year. CUTA's Executive Board will review it tomorrow and a ratification vote of the General Membership is scheduled for Monday, March 28. | |
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| | ****February 16, 2011****
The respective bargaining teams met on Thursday, January 27 as well as Tuesday, February 8. In addition, meetings are scheduled for February 17, and next Tuesday, February 22.
Discussions continue on extended day kindergarten, the implementation of the Aeries system pertaining to attendance and grading, and procedures to deal with staff friction.
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| | ****January 19, 2011****
The CUTA bargaining team met with the district yesterday, January 18, regarding the 2011/2012 contract year. While both salary and benefits are off the table due to the three year agreement reached this past October, there are still issues and opportunities to negotiate.
Among the topics discussed: Extended day kindergarten; Aeries attendance and grading; Procedures to deal with staff friction; and Obsolete contract language.
The first meeting was primarily for the purpose of gathering information and determining needs for upcoming discussions. To those ends, each side left with "assignments" for future meetings. We are scheduled to come together again on Thursday, January 27.
It is our team's hope that this period of relative calm may afford us the opportunity to greatly improve communication and avoid issues that have caused frustration in the past. | |
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| | ****December 15, 2010**** Presented by Kurt Rix, Bargaining Chair:
It has come to our attention that CUSD has plans to implement an all day kindergarten program for the 2011-12 school year. This necessitates modification to Article 6.1.1.B.1.a.1(a) and 6.1.1.B.1.b of the collective bargaining agreement prior to implementation of changes. In accordance with Article 6.1.1.B.1.h CUTA hereby demands to bargain the impact and effect of the changes being considered by the District in order that these changes may be implemented without undue friction or controversy.
While the recent contract settlement resolved issues regarding the impact and effect of changes to CUTA's health care covereage for 2010-11, it did not address any mitigation for 2011-12. In accordance with Article 9.1, CUTA hereby demonds to bargain the impact and effect of those changes for 2011-12.
Finally, we would ask CUSD to entertain our invitation to mutually reopen selected parts of the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the purpose of:
- Deleting language applicable to programs that no longer exist
- Discussing CUTA's continued participation MAA report and Article 6.1.1.B.2.d.2)
- Resolving disputes and potential arbitration resulting from the District's mandated use of the Aries gradebook program (6.1.1.B.2.d.2).
- Creating a process to more effectively deal with corroborated staff friction prior to resorting to involuntary transfer (11.6.2.A.6).
CUTA hopes that the District will eagerly engage with us in this process to prevent potential problems rather than belatedly reacting to them. Our district faces serious challenges that will only be met through cooperation, conciliation, and consideration for the stakeholders assigned to implement District decisions. Any attempt at side stepping this process will only result in further discord and confrontation. Improved communication between administration, teachers, and the school board are an essential first step to our mutual benefit.
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| | ****November 17, 2010**** This last month, most all of us experienced a collective sigh of relief. Though some hard feeling may linger, that doesn't change how important the upcoming years are for CUSD.
The teachers of CUTA are committed to meaningful improvements on all levels of delivering education to our community. We are committed to developing a culture geared toward generating goodwill amongst educators and the community we serve; culture and enviornment where ideas are free flowing and shared without concern or hesitation.
We hope to be part of a new tradition of efficient and effective communication between all concerned parties; to become active participants in identifying and capitalizing on mutually beneficial opportunities. As such, we are committed to investigating possible contractual improvements, cost effective changes, and outside sources of revenue.
Most importantly, we would like to partner with the district in celebrating the considerable successes in CUSD's classrooms and campuses. What can we do together to draw attention to all the schools showing continuous gains on high stakes tests? What about publicly rejoicing in the chosen path of all our seniors? Whether it's college, the miliary, a trade school, police or fire academies, it's worthy of recognition.
Now is the time to capitalize on our skills and expertise as we are eager to be a part of the process of improvement. We are anxious to get started and we are looking to our district leadership for the call to action. | |
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| | ****October 20, 2010**** To say that much has happened since our last meeting would be an obvious understatement. It is my sincere hope that we never again travel the contentious road that brought us here.
I don't want us to forget what brought us here, but I do want us to put it behind us and learn how to better work together for the common good of Chico's youth.
At the Board meeting held two weeks ago in the large conference room at the District Office, I heard a group of PVHS teachers present a most encouraging report of their successes with students. It's time we do more celebrating of our successes, because they are out there. | |
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| | ****September 15, 2010****
Since we last met, CUSD recognized the Package Proposal CUTA presented July 28 as an official proposal. This proposal was rejected with no counter-proposal offered.
What we are at a loss to understand is why our one-year agreement last year that gave CUSD $1 million in savings was OK, but this year's offer giving savings of $1.6 million is not, especially since CUSD is apparently starting with 50% more than it did when it accepted our offer last year. Additionally, the proposal we offered included CUSD's language from a mediated proposal changing the timeline for bargaining that bogged us down this last year.
Facing the potential of imposition by CUSD, a ballot vote held this last Thursday and Friday authorized CUTA's Executive Board to call for a strike when legal and deemed necessary.
This last Monday, the Fact-finding panel met with both Bargaining teams. An agreement was not forth-coming and the respective teams were released by Bonnie Castrey, the neutral member of the panel at 5:00 p.m.
I thought you might be interested to know how much was saved by avoiding the RIF hearing process this last year. Based on what I could glean from a recent PRR, Kingsley, Bogard and Thompson billed CUSD:
Feb $12,321
Mar $15,357.50
Apr $350
May $1,326.90
This $29,355.40 is about 26% of the $108,000 that was billed a couple of years ago.
When this savings was to CUSD, the State, or a combination of the two, as taxpayers we all win.
Respectfully submitted,
John Jenswold
CUTA President | |
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| | ****August 18, 2010**** In a year where CUSD has a beginning balance of over $17 million, we the teachers, are here to call attention to sac rifices we have already made since 2007:
- 116 staff positions have been reduced
- Class sizes have been increased, particularly in the primary grades
- Health benefits have been reduced while costs to unit members have increased dramatically
- Intervention time to work with students has been lost because teachers are traveling room to room and school to school
- Increased out of pocket expenses due to decreased classroom budgets
Everyone acknowledges that the state of California is in unprecedented economic turmoil. In response to this economic climate, CUTA has made those significant sacrifices.
School District budgeting is not an exact science which makes negotiations difficult.
We hope that the Board understands that in spite of the sacrifices our members have already made, CUTA has none-the-less offered considerable salary and contract concessions for this year. At present the District administration has not responded to our three-week old offer.
Finally, with little regard to all the sacrifices the teachers have made, our District has moved toward an even greater extreme by beginning the process of eliminating the contract in its entirety in August 2012.
The teachers in this room tonight, and the countless others they represent, have already demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice and go to whatever means necessary to protect their profession and the contrac they ahve fought long and hard to craft.
Thank you, School Board and teachers for your time.
Respectfully submitted,
John Jenswold
CUTA President | |
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| | * * * * May 19, 2010 * * * * Regardless of the reasons, after many months we now find ourselves ready to sit down with the services of a mediator and begin to talk.
With this year's RIF process, we have begun to change the way things have been done. I hope we can extend this to the process of negotiations.
My concern is that there is too much reliance on costly "outside" advice from those who have no vested interest in the city of Chico. | |
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| | * * * * April 21, 2010 * * * * An email correspondence dated April 14 from Sandra Poole, the PERB assigned mediator, informed us to schedule the 20th of May for mediation and to hold the dates of May 26, June 1, and June 2 open as well, should they be necessary.
I received email notification today that CUSD will be sunshining its proposal at the May 19 School Board meeting, so the respective bargaining teams will be gathering the following day at 9:30 am.
On another front, representatives from CUSD, CUMA, CSEA, CUTA and the public continue to meet on Mondays discussing the ins and outs of the budget. | |
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| | * * * * April 7, 2010 * * * * Yesterday morning we received the following communication from the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) assigned mediator, Sandra Poole: "After careful consideration, and consultation with my colleagues, I have decided to not release the parties to Fact Finding at this time and to schedule mediation beginning with the dates discussed when we met on March 22. In part this decision is based upon the representation by CUTA that the concerns raised were procedural. If it becomes apparent that further mediation is merely a delaying tactic or unlikely to result in an agreement, I will not hesitate to release the parties to fact finding. Let's confirm dates this week."
As soon as we hear from her, I'll let you know. - John Jenswold | |
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| | Presented by: Bob Feaster, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources | |
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| | ****March 23, 2011**** CUTA: Since the last update, the District and CUTA negotiations teams met for a full day on Thursday, February 17, Tuesday, February 22 and Monday, March 7. These sessions resulted in the following:
- Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the parties that fully resolves the grievance dealing with the use of the Aeries grade book.
- Tentative Agreement (TA) between the parties that provides Kindergarten teachers with the option to work for an additional 60 minutes per day with students in their class. This TA will go to the CUTA membership for ratification and then will come to this Board for approval at a meeting next month.
No further dates have been scheduled.
CSEA Chapter 110: The teams met on Monday, March 21 for half of the day. The District provided a response to the Chapters counter proposal of February 4. After discussion and clarification between the teams, the Chapter provided another counter proposal near the end of the day's session and, based on feedback from the District, said that they would come back with another proposal at our next meeting. Areas of discussion included but were not limited to: bereavement leaves, evaluation process, probationary period, use of personal necessity leave time and the article dealing with the impact and effects of layoffs. There are many other items open for discussion as we are working on a successor contract with the entire contract open. The teams have future meetings scheduled for: April 8 and May 6.
CUMA: There is nothing new to report.
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| | ****February 16, 2011**** CUTA: Since the last update, the District and CUTA negotiations teams met for a full day on Thursday, January 27 and Tuesday, February 8. We are scheduled to meet again tomorrow and on February 22. The recent sessions have focused on the following issues:
- Extended day Kindergarten options and impacts on teachers. The teams have exchanged proposals on this topic. No agreement has been reached yet.
- Discussion of the processes used by administrators to resolve staff conflict prior to involuntary transfers for staff friction.
- Discussion of the issues involved in the current grievance that is scheduled for arbitration regarding the use of the grade book program in the District's student information system, Aeries. A resolution to this issue has been proposed and accepted pending the approval of the CUTA Executive Board.
CSEA Chapter 110: Since the last update the two teams met on February 4. Late in the morning on that day, the Chapter provided the District with a counter proposal that addressed many of the issues identified by the teams. This proposal addressed a large number of items given that the entire collective bargaining agreement is open. The remainder of the session was spent with the teams discussing and clarifying the details of that proposal in an effort to make sure that we fully understood this proposal. The teams set future meetings on: March 8, April 8, and May 6.
CUMA: Nothing new to report.
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| | ****January 19, 2011**** CUTA: The District and CUTA negotiations teams met for a full day on Tuesday, January 18 and are scheduled to meet again on Thursday, January 27. Yesterday's session focused on the following issues:
- Disbursement of MAA funds: An MOU was signed by both parties.
- Extended day Kindergarten options and impacts on teachers.
- Discussion of the processes used by administrators to resolve staff conflict prior to involuntary transfers for staff friction.
- Discussion of the current issues involved in the current grievance that is scheduled for arbitration.
- Discussion of sections of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that may be obsolete and could be considered for deletion.
Other than the MOU regarding MAA there were no final agreements reached. Both teams listened and asked questions to better understand the interests of each other. For the next meeting the District team will provide some information on extended day kindergarten, will provide a list of sections of the CBA that it sees as possibly obsolete and will bring items that it would like to have discussed.
CSEA Chapter 110: The Chapter and District negotiations teams were scheduled to meet today. However, due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict with a member of the Chapter's team, that session was cancelled. We are next scheduled to meet on February 4 to resume our discussion of the issues raised by both groups given that the entire CBA is open.
CUMA: Nothing new to report.
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| | ****December 15, 2010**** CUTA: While there have been no formal negotiation sessions between the District and CUTA since the approval of the October agreement there have been positive discussions on a variety of important topics. We have had productive discussions on developing an agreement to continue our relationship with billing and distributing funds for Medi-Cal Administrative Activities (MAA). We have also had discussions regarding the evaluation process and how it can best be used to improve student achievement. We have also been working together to enhance the PLC process for teachers and the use of the new student information system.
This is an important time in CUSD. Now is the time for all of us to demonstrate our trust in each other and our commitment to working together to enhance the relationship between the District and CUTA so that we can provide the best possible services to our students. The meetings and conversations over the past couple of months have been positive, productive and cooperative.
CSEA Chapter 110: The Chapter and District negotiations teams met on December 1 and December 13.
The December 1 meeting focused on the completion of the Tentative Agreement (TA) that is on the Board's agenda for discussion later in tonight's agenda. The Chapter also reviewed and discussed the list of items that they would like to have considered given that the entire contract is open for discussion. These include but are not limited to: Rules for assigning split shifts; Bereavement and personal necessity leave; Impacts and effects of layoffs; Holidays.
At the December 13 meeting the District team provided a list of items that it woud like to have discussed including but not limited to: Order of offers; Prime evaluator for employees with multiple positions; Probationary term; Eligibility in retiree health care benefits.
There was discussion about each of these to help each side understand the other's interest. The parties are next scheduled to meet on January 19 and February 4.
CUMA: The work continues to finalize the implementation of the reductions agreed to by both parties.
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| | ****November 17, 2010**** CUTA: There have been no new negotiation sessions between the parties since the last update. We have been working together on the implementation of the furlough days and have been discussing the possibility of opening articles of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that we may have a mutual interest in discussing.
CSEA Chapter 110: The Chapter and District negotiations teams met on October 26 and November 5. Primary topics of discussion included;- Implementation of furlough days
- The elimination and reduction of various positions
- Achieving parity between the CUTA agreement and that with CSEA, Chapter 110
The teams did some mutual work between the meetings to gather more information from employees about the impact and effect of the possible eliminations and reductions and shared what we had learned at the November 5 meeting. At the November 5 meeting there was a positive discussion about ways to modify the June 18 agreement with CSEA to create parity with the recently approved agreement with CUTA.
The teams are next scheduled to meet on November 19, December 2 and December 14. We hope to be able to finalize a tentative agreement soon on the parity issue. We will continue our work on a successor agreement given that the entire Collective Bargaining Agreement is open.
CUMA: The Chico Unified Management Association worked with the District to develop and implement furlough days that will create parity with those implemented for CUTA.
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| | ****October 20, 2010**** CUTA: The Tentative Agreement between CUTA and the District is an item later in tonight's agenda. When that item is discussed later tonight we will present specific information on the tentative agreement. This agreement will allow us to move forward and to focus on the excellent job that employees of the District do in educating the students of Chico.
CSEA Chapter 110: The Chapter and District negotiations teams have agreed on two (2) upcoming dates to meet; October 26 and November 5. It is anticipated that discussions will include: 1) Working toward a successor agreement given that the entire contract is open. The Chapter provided a prioritized list of items from the initial proposals for discussion; and 2) Reaching agreement on the impact of the tentative agreement with CUTA on the CSEA agreement.
CUMA: The Chico Unified Management Association is currently working internally to develop the means by which CUMA members will take an equitable amount of furlough days to match those tentatively agreed to with CUTA. It is expected that CUMA will come forward with the specific recommendations on the implementation of these furlough days. | |
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| | ****September 15, 2010**** CUTA: The District and CUTA negotiating teams participated in teh Fact Finding meeting that was held on Monday, September 13, 2010. Each side presented the facts in the matter to a three person panel composed of one member chosen by CUTA, one member chosen by the Distrct and one member, the Chair, who was agreed to by both parties. Late in the afternoon the Chair informed the parties that she was ending the session as she did not see continuing to meet as useful. We anticipate that a final Fact Finding report will be issued in mid-October.
CSEA Chapter 110: Since the last regular meeting of this Board, the District and CSEA Chapter 110 teams have met once on August 23. In that meeting we dealt with a varity of current issues such as staffing, the impact of program moves and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP discussion resulted in drafting the tentative agreement that is before you later on your agenda. This will allow us to terminate our contract with our existing EAP provider and have all such services offered through the current medical plan for the BSSP-JPA. This will save the District approximately $19,000 total, $17,000 with CSEA, Chapter 110. The meeting also included clarifying each side's priorities as we discuss negotiations given that the entire collective bargaining agreement is open this year.
CUMA: There have been no new developments between the District and the Chico Unified Management Association (CUMA). CUMA is currently in the process of having their sub groups look at options to achieve the agreed upon compensation reductions to match whatever is finalized with CUTA. | |
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| | ****August 18, 2010**** CUTA: The District and CUTA negotiating teams met on June 23 and 25 with the assigned mediator. At the end of the last session no new meetings were scheduled. On August 5, 2010, the mediator sent notice to the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) stating, “…that fact finding is appropriate to the resolution of the impasse.” On August 11, 2010, Les Chisholm, Division Chief of PERB notified both parties in writing to select its fact finding panel member by August 18. A fact finding panel is composed of three people: one appointed by CTA, one by the District and a neutral is appointed to hear the issues involved. Given the prescribed timelines, we anticipate that the panel will complete their work and present a report in late September. The goal remains that of finding a negotiated settlement. This is still possible leading up to and through the fact finding process.
CSEA Chapter 110: On June 29, CSEA Chapter 110 ratified and on June 30 the CUSD Board of Education approved a tentative agreement between the parties. Both parties recognized that this agreement does not conclude bargaining for the current year and that further reductions may likely be necessary. This agreement provided for the following: - A reduction in the salary schedule for new employees of 10% effective July 1, 2010
- JPA Red Plan offered as the health plan for unit members
- Elimination of team cleaning
- Suspension of the Golden Handshake for 4 years
- Furlough days
The teams are scheduled to meet on August 23 and September 2.
CUMA: There have been no new developments between the District and the Chico Unified Management Association (CUMA). CUMA is currently in the process of having their sub groups look at options to achieve the agreed upon compensation reductions. | |
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| | * * * * June 16, 2010 * * * * CUTA: The District and CUTA bargaining teams met on May 20 with the mediator assigned by the State Medication/Conciliation Service. Given that this was a mediation session the discussions are confidential. The parties agreed to meet again on June 23 and June 25 with the mediator.
CSEA Chapter 110: The bargaining teams met on June 11. The parties have made significant progress on a conceptual proposal that could result in meeting a portion of the savings needed from Chapter 110 toward dealing with our current budget crisis. This was a positive session with real progress being made. The teams next meet this Friday, June 18, hopefully to complete the final details of this proposal. If we can complete that process, we will have been successful in meeting the Board's request at the March 3 meeting that the teams demonstrate significant progress. There was a very good spirit of compromise and cooperation in this session and we hope and believe that this continues in future meetings.
CUMA: The District provided CUMA leadership with a written response to the list of questions that CUMA members posed. On June 3 CUMA membership and Senior Cabinet met to clarify any remaining questions and concerns. There appears to be a common understanding of the issues and the District's responses to the questions. CUMA will continue their internal discussion as to how their groups will work toward achieving the needed budget savings. | |
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| | * * * * May 19, 2010 * * * * CUTA: The District is again tonight publicly presenting its initial proposal to CUTA for the 2009/10 school year. The bargaining teams will meet tomorrow (May 20) at 10:00am with the mediator, Sandra Poole, assigned to us by the State Mediation/Conciliation Service through the impasse process.
CSEA Chapter 110: The bargaining teams met on May 5 in an abbreviated session. Much of that session was taken up in resolving issues related to recent layoffs and where a group of employees should be placed on eligibility lists. A Memorandum of Understanding was drafted and was subsequently approved by the Chapter. There was also some discussion about the Golden Handshake process. The teams met again today (9:00am-3:30pm). This included a review and update of fiscal issues, a sharing of interests and the parties sharing their priorities going forward. Conceptual proposals were exchanged. Some conceptual agreement was reached on many issues. This was a positive meeting. Future meetings are scheduled for June 11, June 18, July 12 and July 15.
CUMA: The District provided CUMA leadership with a written response to the list of questions that CUMA members posed. We are working to find a time when CUMA membership and Senior Cabinet can meet to provide CUMA members an opportunity to ask questions directly. | |
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| | * * * * April 21, 2010 * * * * CUTA: Representatives from CUTA/CTA and the District met on March 22 with the mediator assigned to our case given that we have been declared by PERB as being at impasse regarding negotiations for the 2009-10 school year. That meeting did not result in a solution. At this point the mediator has indicated that she is not sending the parties to Fact Finding. CUTA has proposed that the next mediation meeting be held on May 20. The District is seeking possible earlier dates in conjunction with the mediator.
CSEA Chapter 110: The Chapter’s initial proposal for 2010/11 was sunshined at the Board meeting on March 24. The District and Chapter teams have been exchanging possible meeting dates. We have tentatively agreed on May 5 and 19.
CUMA: The District and the leadership of Chico Unified Management Association continue to communicate regarding questions posed by CUMA members. | |
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| | * * * * April 7, 2010 * * * * CUTA: Representatives from CUTA/CTA and the District met on March 22 with the mediator assigned to our case given that we have been declared by PERB as being at Impasse. That meeting did not result in a solution. At this point the mediator has indicated that she is not sending the parties to Fact Finding and will continue to work to find dates that the parties can meet.
CSEA: The Chapter's initial proposal for 2010-11 was sunshined at the Board meeting on March 24. On March 25 the District requested dates that the Chapter could begin negotiations. The Chapter representative acknowledged that they are working to find dates but thus far we have not received any such dates from the Chapter.
CUMA: The Chico Unified Management Association Co-Presidents provided Senior Cabinet with a list of questions from CUMA members regarding the proposals offered to obtain the needed compensation reductions. Those questions were discussed at the Cabinet level to insure that we all had a clear understanding of the questions and the associated issues presented. Responses will be provided to CUMA. | |
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| | * * * * March 24, 2010 * * * * At the last Board meeting I noted in my report that our District is currently experiencing one of the, if not the, most significant fiscal crisis in our history. The only way out of this is for all of us to work together to find solutions. The amount of reductions needed is staggering. Over the course of the last 10 years we have continuously trimmed our budget by cutting programs.
We sent out a press release that has prompted news reports about some improvements in our District’s budget picture. Our budget has improved due to difficult decisions that this Board has recently made most of which will impact students. The improvement is also the result of some one time and in some cases unexpected income from the State. It is important to keep in mind that the improvements, while real, are short lived in that we fully expect our budget to be in “negative” with the start of the 2010-11. We continue to have a structural deficit that is now projected to be $4.7 million in 2010-11 and $9.4 million by 2011-12, averaging $7 million over the next two years. Given the size of the budget gap, and the percentage of the district budget that is committed to employee compensation, we must look to the negotiations process to help resolve our problem.
CUTA: On February 2, 2010, the District and CUTA were certified by the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) to impasse. Subsequently a mediator was assigned to the case. On February 17, 2010, CUTA sunshined their initial proposal for the 2009-10 school year. Recently the parties met with the mediator assigned to the case. No further meeting dates have been set. The parties remain at impasse.
CSEA Chapter 110: As I noted in my presentation on March 3, neither party submitted an initial proposal prior to March 15, 2009, to formally open negotiations for the 2009-10 school year. As a result, negotiations for the 09-10 school year did not formally open. The District sunshined it’s initial proposal for the contract year of 2010-11 to the Chapter on November 20, 2009, and to the public at the Board meeting on December 2, 2009. The District opted to open three articles of the contract dealing with wages, hours of employment and Health and Welfare benefits. Tonight’s agenda includes the sunshining of CSEA’s initial proposal for 2010-11. Their proposal is for a successor agreement that in essence opens the entire collective bargaining agreement. Negotiations for the 2010-11 year should start shortly.
CUMA: The Chico Unified Management Association Co-Presidents have met with District staff and discussed options for reductions in compensation. They have shared those concepts with the CUMA membership and are working through issues that have come out of those discussions. | |
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| | * * * * MARCH 3, 2010 * * * * Negotiations Update: Our District is currently experiencing one of the, if not the, most significant fiscal crisis in our history. The only way out of this is for all of us to work together to find solutions. The amount of reductions needed is staggering. Over the course of the last 10 years we have continuously trimmed our budget by cutting programs. We have in the past two years instituted layoffs to bring our staffing in alignment with our declining student population. Given that 90% of our expenditures are in employee compensation and the magnitude of our budget shortfall, we are forced to negotiate compensation issues that hurt everyone who works in CUSD. We must also acknowledge that many of the choices that will be considered to reduce costs will adversely affect the students of our District. The District must move forward with the difficult discussions required in negotiations. These will be painful but are necessary for the survival of CUSD and its continued ability to maintain local control. We want very much to work with the leadership of the bargaining groups to find the best manner in which to find a fair and equitable way to do this. The statement needs to be made that no single bargaining group (CUTA, CSEA, Chapter 110, or CUMA) is responsible for our current status. However, they are the solution. We need to find a way to reach solutions that are immediate, ongoing savings that will allow us to continue to manage our District in a fiscally responsible manner while providing a quality education to the students of our community.
CUTA: In very positive action, on August 24, 2009, the District and CUTA reached agreement on, among other issues, CUTA members moving to the Red Plan for medical insurance. This three-year agreement is projected to save the District approximately $1 million dollars each year with the exception of the first year when we should save approximately $750,000 due to implementation on November 1. Unfortunately, this needs to be a starting point and not an ending point. For almost a year, the District has been communicating to CUTA its intent and the need to bargain 2009/10. Between March 27, 2009, and December 2, 2009, the District communicated on at least ten separate occasions with CUTA the need for the parties to negotiate for the 2009/10 year. After sunshining the District’s initial proposal in June 2009, requesting dates from CUTA to meet, providing CUTA with proposed dates and providing CUTA with a formal proposal on October 15 we have had no signs from CUTA of an active interest in meeting to bargain. As a result on December 28, 2009, the District requested that PERB (Public Employment Relations Board) declare the existence of an impasse and assign a mediator to help resolve the issues and move us toward a solution. On February 1, 2010, PERB certified CUSD and CUTA to impasse and assigned a mediator. On February 2, 2010, the mediator contacted both parties and proposed four (4) dates in February and March to explore potential settlement options. The District advised the mediator that its team would be available on all four of the proposed dates. CUTA has advised that mediator that they would not meet until sometime after June 1, 2010. Given the staggering financial cuts imposed on CUSD by the State of California we have a responsibility and an obligation to balance the budget in a fair and timely manner. As approximately 90% of our costs are in employee compensation, this will require a collaborative effort between the District and the leadership of the employee bargaining groups.
CSEA Chapter 110: In September 2008 the District and CSEA, Chapter 110 reached agreement on a cost neutral golden handshake provision. The parties agreed later that negotiations for that year had concluded. The process to implement that agreement took some time to finalize. On January 10, 2010, we reached a tentative agreement on this implementation. Chapter 110 ratified this agreement. This will come before the Board at the meeting on March 24 after we have complied with the AB 1200 requirements and the TA (Tentative Agreement) has passed review by BCOE. For the contract year of 2009-2010 neither party submitted initial proposals prior to March 15, 2009, to formally open negotiations. As a result of no proposals there were no topics to negotiate. The contract does allow for the parties to mutually agree to negotiate any portion of the agreement, but Chapter 110 made it clear that they had no interest in opening negotiations for 2009-10 because the deadline of March 15, 2009, had passed. The parties did meet several times from March 2009 through October 2009 and shared proposals/concepts dealing with a variety of topics including medical plans for active members and retirees, custodial services, reductions in compensation and changes to the Golden Handshake provision, etc. The last session dealing with such comprehensive proposals was held on October 28, 2009. Chapter 110 representatives stated that since the District proposals did not meet their core values they saw no value in continuing further meetings. The District sunshined it’s initial proposal for the contract year of 2010-2011 to the Chapter on November 20, 2009, and to the public at the Board meeting on December 2, 2009. We were told by the Chapter leadership that they needed to survey their membership before providing their initial proposal. The District anticipates receipt of that proposal shortly.
CUMA: This fall we provided the leadership of CUMA (Chico Unified Management Association) with options to affect reductions in compensation. These options included reductions in salary, furlough days and/or reductions in benefits. CUMA has indicated a willingness to explore the options and to look at the impact of the options on the various subgroups of CUMA (i.e., administrators, classified management, psychologists and classified confidential).
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