Posted on by John Hotchner

 

CAUSE ADVISORY

CUSD/ CAUSE * 22-23 Negotiated Healthcare Agreements

Further Clarification

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District Employees, Families, & District Stakeholders,

 

Union Leadership understands the confusion, which appears an intentional outcome of the District’s most recent email. pertaining to our recent healthcare negotiations.  Therefore, Union leadership is compelled to clarify:

 

  • The District’s email represents its most recent attempt to undermine employees’ historic right to participate as fully fledged bargaining partners.

 

  • This year, for the first time, the District alleged that CAUSE (i.e. the Union with the sole authority to represent District employees) was not permitted to negotiate changes to CUSD’s healthcare plan options; even though the bargaining partners had already negotiated specific healthcare plan options throughout the CERTIFICATED & CLASSIFIED bargaining cycles. (As demonstrated by significant changes to the plan options available in 2023-24.)

 

  • The CUSD’s email is an act of “bad-faith bargaining.”It demonstrates CUSD’s attempt to better position itself in future bargaining cycles; where it may circumvent its obligation to provide CUSD employees high-quality HEALTHCARE options, by unilaterally and arbitrarily selecting inferior and/or eroded healthcare plans.

 

  • Fortunately, the District’s attempts to position in this way, does not change the CUSD’s contractual obligations; either this year or in the future.

 

  • The District is still required to bring proposed healthcare plan options to the bargaining-table during the CERTIFICATED & CLASSIFIED cycles.

 

  • The District is still required to meet with Union Leadership in a joint healthcare committee to review all benefit areas and plans. (As demonstrated by the CUSD HEALTHCARE BENEFITS COMMITTEE meeting held on May 17, 2023).

 

Therefore, the Human Resource Director’s email may be ignored.  Union leadership refused and still refuses to take the bait, encouraged by the District’s lawyer and Human Resource Director.   To have held up our agreements to argue this point in a legal setting would have taken away from employee benefits, salary increases, and student programs.  Arguing the District’s unfounded claims would have instead directed those very same public dollars into the pockets of the District’s legal counsel, while ensuring that the Human Resource Director is central to yet another very expensive legal action.

 

In short, rather than sinking our CLASSIFIED bargaining agreements in the current, to argue the District’s bad-faith posture in court, Union leadership worked to reach negotiated changes to healthcare plan design and options (2022–23 Negotiated HEALTHCARE Changes.CUSD:CAUSE).  We chose, instead, to deliver important improvements for District employees, students, and their families.

In Service,

~ CAUSE Leadership

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* C.A.U.S.E. – Yes We Can ! *