July President’s Message
Happy Summer. I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer break. I know I needed some time to recharge. My husband and I had an incredible vacation and we came home in time for the birth of our granddaughter.
The Federation has been working through the summer. A special thanks to Dana Morellini and Erinn VanderMeer for working on grievances while I was on vacation. The Federation has filed a grievance asking the District to honor parity, which is in our contract, since it was not included in our final check of the school year. The District's own study found they owed us a 1.82% parity adjustment retroactive to August 2016. The District is maintaining in its response to our grievance that this increase needs to be negotiated. That is a direct contradiction to the message Gary sent to the community. There are also active grievances regarding incomplete evaluations at three sites. In addition, we have been working with our attorney on unfair labor practice charges.
We ended the year with a great show of solidarity. Our one day strike was a huge success. I was so proud of the strength and unity we displayed. Our actions were inspirational to our fellow educators in many other districts. Your June 30 pay warrant had a strike deduction listed if you participated in our Unfair Labor Practice Strike. Take your yearly salary and divide it by 187 (days worked) to see how much should have been deducted. There should not have been any days of leave deducted from your balance for the strike.
The District and the Federation have agreed to mediation without declaring impasse. The District withdrew their request for impasse to be declared before PERB could rule. That was important because if impasse is declared, the District could impose their last and “best” offer without reaching an agreement. Our first negotiation session with a mediator present is July 26. We will send an update after that session.
For now, the new school year is rapidly approaching, and we do not have a contract. Mary Collins at Cherry Valley and Penngrove will start the year on July 19. Executive Council voted at our June meeting to begin the new year as usual. That will give us all time to get our classes settled. It was decided that Labor Day would be the appropriate time to begin work actions if we still do not have an agreement by that date.
I hope your enjoy the rest of your summer break.
In Solidarity,
Sandra
Happy Summer. I hope that everyone is having a wonderful summer break. I know I needed some time to recharge. My husband and I had an incredible vacation and we came home in time for the birth of our granddaughter.
The Federation has been working through the summer. A special thanks to Dana Morellini and Erinn VanderMeer for working on grievances while I was on vacation. The Federation has filed a grievance asking the District to honor parity, which is in our contract, since it was not included in our final check of the school year. The District's own study found they owed us a 1.82% parity adjustment retroactive to August 2016. The District is maintaining in its response to our grievance that this increase needs to be negotiated. That is a direct contradiction to the message Gary sent to the community. There are also active grievances regarding incomplete evaluations at three sites. In addition, we have been working with our attorney on unfair labor practice charges.
We ended the year with a great show of solidarity. Our one day strike was a huge success. I was so proud of the strength and unity we displayed. Our actions were inspirational to our fellow educators in many other districts. Your June 30 pay warrant had a strike deduction listed if you participated in our Unfair Labor Practice Strike. Take your yearly salary and divide it by 187 (days worked) to see how much should have been deducted. There should not have been any days of leave deducted from your balance for the strike.
The District and the Federation have agreed to mediation without declaring impasse. The District withdrew their request for impasse to be declared before PERB could rule. That was important because if impasse is declared, the District could impose their last and “best” offer without reaching an agreement. Our first negotiation session with a mediator present is July 26. We will send an update after that session.
For now, the new school year is rapidly approaching, and we do not have a contract. Mary Collins at Cherry Valley and Penngrove will start the year on July 19. Executive Council voted at our June meeting to begin the new year as usual. That will give us all time to get our classes settled. It was decided that Labor Day would be the appropriate time to begin work actions if we still do not have an agreement by that date.
I hope your enjoy the rest of your summer break.
In Solidarity,
Sandra
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