April 5, 2019
On Friday, April 5, 2019, after five bargaining sessions, the District (PUSD) and Pittsburg Education Association (PEA) agreed they are at impasse and would jointly submit an impasse declaration to the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB).
During the course of negotiations, the parties reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) on Article 23, Peer Assistance Program and the District withdrew its proposal on Article 4, Grievances. This means negotiations regarding the District’s two non-monetary articles have been completed. The articles remaining on the table are:
- Article 6 – Hours of Employment
- Article 11 – Safety Conditions
- Article 12 – Employee Benefits
- Article 13 – Salary
Salary and Employee Benefits:
The District has provided PEA with its
Second Interim Report
, which shows the District deficit spending in its multi-year projection. School Districts are required to submit 3-year budgets, showing the impact of any costs on the following years. This includes the restricted budget. PUSD has submitted its second qualified interim budget to the County. A qualified budget means that the District shows a deficit in the 3rd year. Due to this condition, the District must act in a fiscally responsible manner. Virtually any increase in compensation will require the District to look at cuts to critical programs that directly support students and families in our District.
District Offer:
The current offer (Option 1) from the District is 1.25% for the 2018-2019 school year retroactive to July 1, 2018, and 5% for the 2018-2019 school year retroactive to July 1, 2018 for pre-k teachers only. Alternatively, the District also made available the same two-year deal (Option 2) it proposed at the previous bargaining session on March 27, 2019. Option 2 includes a 3% increase over two years: the current year (2018-2019) and the following year (2019-2020). The 3% would be a 1% increase retroactive to July 1, 2018; an additional 1% increase effective July 1, 2019; and another 1% increase effective January 1, 2020. Option 2 additionally includes a 7% over the 2 years for pre-k teachers: 5% retroactive to July 1, 2018, then a 1% for July 1, 2019, and a 1% for January, 2020. Also, the District's offer for pre-k includes an addition of 30 minutes to their workday and an increase on their salary schedule to reflect the additional time.
The District also offered a salary schedule restructure for psychologists, speech and language pathologists, and behaviorists that included a column that encompasses compensation for unit members that possess 90 or more college units.
PEA Response:
PEA responded to the District's current salary proposal by rejecting the offer for a two-year deal and the offer for a one-year deal. They maintained their current proposal of a 4.0% increase retroactive to July 1, 2018 and a salary schedule restructure for psychologists, speech and language pathologists, behaviorists and preschool teachers.
Impasse:
As mentioned at the onset of this communication, both parties agreed they are at impasse.
What Is Impasse:
Impasse is a procedure designed to assist parties who are bargaining to reach an agreement. The first step in the process is for the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to certify the impasse. PERB then appoints a neutral mediator to meet with the parties to assist in resolving their differences. The impasse process is confidential and work under the contract must proceed without interruption during the entire impasse process. The vast majority of contract disputes resolve during the mediation stage. However, if mediation is unsuccessful for any reason, the next step in the impasse process is Fact-finding. Fact-finding is also facilitated by PERB and requires a presentation to a Fact-Finding panel that is composed of three people, with the Chair of the Panel either mutually selected by the parties or appointed by PERB.
