Classified employees in the Natomas Unified School District voted 110-21 tonight to reject a proposed contract for the 2011-12 school year.
California School Employees Association members were deciding whether to ratify a tentative agreement union negotiators reached last month with the school district. The union represents more than 300 workers such as school secretaries and custodians in the district.
Natomas Unified officials asked all employees take the equivalent of a 7.9 percent pay cut next school year, generally in the form of furlough days, to help balance the budget and avoid a state take over.
“A week after the tentative agreement was signed, the classified association was presented with re-worked numbers and new number of days as furlough,” union president Mike Sanders said. “The new number of days furlough are now 19 to 24 days, depending on the number of days per year each employee works.”
Sanders said the increase in furlough days was explained to the union as calculation errors. This change, he said, amounts to between 9 percent and 10 percent of a worker’s wages and likely influenced how members voted tonight.
“To negotiate in good faith is and has always been the primary goal of CSEA,” said Sanders. The union and district are scheduled to resume contract negotiations on March 2.
The CSEA has been beaten with furlough days, job cuts, and increased workloads the last couple of years. The last two years they’ve given 24 furlough days and numerous job cuts. It appears that the CSEA membership would like their leadership to try for something reasonable. Particularly in light of the sacrifices they’ve already made in terms of job cuts, increased workload, and furlough days.
These numbers are all off and the circumstances are not indicated.
Management took a 7.79% cut, not 7.9
Certificated took 8.54% but, a max of 7 furlough days and the rest is teacher lay offs and classroom size enlargement.
CSEA members did not agree to the contract, because the district really wants a 9.6% cut and not a 7.9. The problem is that they are including benefits which has not, to my knowledge, been discussed yet in negotiations. Further more, the district wants the employees to pay for statutory benefits through their salary when this is a district expense to do business and not the employees responsibility. The district knows that we all want furlough days that thus when we don’t work they do not pay these benefits, however they want to double dip and take that money from us.
Moreover, they fired their Business Assoc. Sup as in the last board agenda they did not renew his contract. Why? His numbers were way off and he undercut them. So, the management and certificated ratified while the numbers where shown as low, but now that the real numbers have come out classified is supposed to take the largest chunk of the pie in addition to having money stolen from them by the district double dipping.
Hey Natomas Management…try telling the truth for once!