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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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| | * * * * 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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| | **** 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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| | * * * * 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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| | * * * * 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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