In a Friday email to the school community, PUSD Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Hawn said that the teachers’ union informed the district on Oct. 18 that they would be filing for impasse after the two sides could not come to an agreement on salary, benefits, and other terms. (As of Friday afternoon, APT had not updated their website with this information.)
In her email, Hawn outlined the 14+ specific proposals APT and PUSD had been negotiating. Salary, health benefits, and years of service cap have been the sticking points since September when talks began. From the email:
APT proposed a 25% increase in the District’s contribution toward employee health care. PUSD responded with a proposal for a multi-year increase of 9% over three years: 2% this year, 4% next year, and 3% the third year, to be used on salary or benefits, or a combination of either one. APT rejected this proposal.
APT proposed an 8.22% increase in salary. PUSD responded with a proposal for a multi-year increase of 9% over three years: 2% this year, 4% next year, and 3% the third year, to be used on salary or benefits, or a combination of either one. APT rejected this proposal.
APT proposed eliminating the years of service cap. PUSD rejected this proposal, and responded by expanding the service cap from 9 years to 12 years as a compromise. APT rejected the proposal.
PUSD Superintendent email Oct. 20
Prior to the start of negotiations this fall, at the Aug. 23 School Board meeting, APT President Dr. Elise Mark said that APT had signed a commitment letter with East Bay Coalition for Student Success on Mar. 27 to agree to not settling at the bargaining table — to the point of going to impasse. EBCSS is made up of 20 California Teachers Association chapters across the East Bay, including Lafayette, Orinda, and Moraga, and works to bolster and support teacher unions as they negotiate with their individual school districts over pay and benefits and other funding priorities.
According to the Superintendent:
Impasse includes filing a “Request for Impasse Determination/Appointment of Mediator” form with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). If PERB determines APT and PUSD are, in fact, at impasse, a state mediator is assigned to assist in resolving matters to come to an agreement. If the mediator is unable to help both parties reach an agreement, either party may request a fact-finding panel. Fact-finding involves a three-person panel to conduct an analysis (typically of the union contract, district budget and other relevant information) to make recommendations in a report. At this point, the union and district may come to an agreement. If no agreement is reached, the two parties could continue negotiations, they could delay and revisit at a later date, or the union could strike.
In an update to the school community on Oct. 8, Hawn outlined some of the budget constraints facing the district:
.The problems we face are economic, and State funding is simply not keeping pace for our employees. Here is a short list of the many problems:
* Inflation has been listed at about 4.9% in the East Bay. This means everyone’s purchase power is impacted.
* Our health care rates are increasing by over 17% as of January 1, which will have a significant financial impact on our staff. Yes, we have and will continue to negotiate rates to get the best options out there, but this is where we are right now.
* State funding provided 8.22% to only 61% of our PUSD budget, and that amount was reduced because of our declining enrollment and ADA, leaving us only 2% remaining.
These challenges feel significant, we are exploring every option to respond to these financial hits. The 2% remaining in our budget has been offered for a salary increase, and we have proposed another 4% next year, and another 3% the year after.