Our PFSP Bargaining Team met with District Management for our second bargaining session on Thursday, March 5. We continued negotiations around Ground Rules and presented two articles that touch on the PROFESSIONAL EMPOWERMENT portion of our CPR platform.


GROUND RULES

There are three points of contention:


  1. The District proposed that March 5th should be our official first day of bargaining, the day we first shared proposals around contract changes, while we believe it should be February 18th, the day of our very first bargaining session to discuss ground rules. This date is important because we’re required to bargain for at least 150 days per state law from that agreed upon date before we can request mediation.
  2. The District has said there is “no universe” where they would agree to recording our sessions. This is a step backwards from our last contract; our members appreciated being able to view sessions on their own time, especially when many were scheduled during the work day. If the District truly believes in full transparency they will allow recorded sessions.
  3. The District has proposed that our bargaining team get paid release time from their regular positions for only eight bargaining sessions. Any sessions beyond that would mean our team goes unpaid while the District bargaining continues receiving full pay for their time at the negotiation table. This is, again, the District going against past practice, and additionally is not equitable. Our members deserve a contract that isn’t rushed due to economic pressure on the bargaining team at the table. We will continue our fight for full paid release time for every bargaining session.


We cannot accept the District’s Ground Rules as currently proposed. We strongly believe full transparency and no loss of pay for bargaining team members are essential to negotiating a contract our members can feel good ratifying. While we are disappointed with the tone the District is setting at this early stage, we look forward to coming to mutual agreement soon so we can focus on our other proposals.


PROFESSIONAL EMPOWERMENT

ARTICLE 15: BREAKS AND LUNCHES

We presented a proposal which would codify in our contract certain state and federal labor law regulations regarding the scheduling of lunch breaks and rest periods. Our members are often asked to take their break 10 minutes after the start of their day – if they get one at all! If agreed upon, the new language would require breaks to be scheduled in the midpoint of a member’s shift.


ARTICLE 19: EMPLOYEE EVALUATION

We presented a proposal for Article 19 that included an evaluation process for probationary employees to reflect the Just Cause laws for classified school employees. This means that there won’t be any more probationary workers who are fired at 5 months and 29 days, without feedback or notice. We also proposed a review of the outline of best practices to be used in an evaluation, and clarified that an evaluation is non disciplinary.


The District has not provided a counter proposal and did not present proposals of their own.


OPEN BARGAINING

Since we do not have agreement from the District to record, we need to PACK THE ROOM. We know that membership involvement is the key to a strong contract. We need our members to show up in PFSP green to watch the bargaining process for themselves, so that our members can hold the district to account.


Doors at 4:30, negotiations begin at 5. Please RSVP so we have a head count for dinner, and feel free to bring some popcorn or your favorite movie snacks to share, because this is going to be a show!