CAUSE ADVISORY
Update * CLASSIFIED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Session # 2: April 19, 2023
[ Focusing on Article 14: SAFETY ]
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Today’s Session # 2:
The bargaining partners, CAUSE & CUSD, met today to negotiate over the CLASSIFIED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT [ CAUSE-CUSD CLASSIFIED AGREEMENT 2018-19 ].
According to the laws that govern the collective bargaining process, the Union is entitled to information that directly pertains to employee contracts. Since the District arrived without important fiscal information previously requested by the Union in February, 2023, CAUSE’s team acknowledged that it could not provide the District with a well informed proposal on Article 6, COMPENSATION & BENEFITS. Therefore, we instead resubmitted our previous information requests, while seeking further clarification upon the District’s hiring practices, HEALTHCARE enrollment data, and predicted versus actual budget figures. In doing so, the Union provided the District even more time to resolve its obligations associated with the requested information.
The Union team then immediately pivoted to a priority objective, further developing its, 1st PROPOSAL * CLASSIFIED Article 14: SAFETY. CLASSIFIED CAUSE Proposal (1st) ARTICLE 14 SAFETY 2022-23.fin
Union leadership remains laser focused on the SAFETY of District students and employees. Putting our money where our mouths are, the Union demonstrated its commitment to student and employee SAFETY by encouraging the District to contractualize a variety of SAFETY focused best-practices. These SAFETY best-practices would not only require District administration, but also require District personnel to take increased professional responsibility for maintaining a more effective District SAFETY environment. Fortunately, the bargaining partners would not need to reinvent the wheel here. When Superintendent Rigby arrived to the District, the SAFETY initiatives proposed by the Union were in force across the District. Returning to a more effective SAFETY posture could be a matter of re-investing in and re-implementing these proposed SAFETY best-practices and protocols.
Prior to the end of the meeting, Union’s team submitted its finalized 1st PROPOSAL * CLASSIFIED Article 14: SAFETY. We pointed the District to the bulk of the newly proposed language, which contained the SAFETY best-practices and protocols mentioned above. These can primarily be found in the 2nd half of the proposal.
In Full Transparency:
[ Union Leadership recognizes that Superintendent Rigby’s influence over the last 5 years, which was been supported by the CUSD School Board, has severely undermined the District’s SAFETY posture. This has recently been further demonstrated by the District’s response to the intruder event at the District Office & CANALINO ELEMENTARY school on Thursday, April 13, 2023. Although the District wholly rejected the Union’s SAFETY proposals in the CERTIFICATED Bargaining environment, we hope the intruder event of last week will encourage District Leadership to reconsider their decision to divest in the SAFETY of District students and employees during Superintendent Rigby’s tenure with CUSD.]
Moving Forward:
The Union intends to begin the next scheduled bargaining session (to be held on April 25, 2023) by further clarifying the value of our SAFETY proposals and answering any questions the District may have.
Your continued support and engagement is critical to informing our conversations with administration, the School Board, and the CUSD community. Please consider joining us at the next CUSD School Board Meeting (also scheduled for April 25, 2023 * City Hall @ 5:30 PM). It is important that District employees demonstrate their support for the contract improvements being proposed, including the important SAFETY upgrades that would better protect students, employees, and their families.
In Unity,
~ The CAUSE CLASSIFIED BARGAINING TEAM
* j. Hotchner * CAUSE President
* Gina Marchand * CAUSE Secretary
* Arna Crittendon * CAUSE Representative
* Cynthia Crewdson * CAUSE Representative
* Felicity Moore * CAUSE Retiree, Past Vice-President, & Scribe
* Kassi Harris * CFT Regional Representative
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* C.A.U.S.E. – Yes We Can ! *