CAUSE ADVISORY
23-24 CLASSIFIED Bargaining Continues
No NEW agreements have been reached, but…
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CLASSIFIED Employees & Colleagues,
There seems to be some confusion about yesterday’s (April 4, 2024) bargaining session. Union Leadership would like to clarify where we’re at in the 2023-24 bargaining cycle.
The 2023-24 CLASSIFIED Negotiation Cycle is NOT Over.
No NEW agreements have been reached.
* Thus far, the Union has submitted two formal proposals…
1.) Article 14: SAFETY
2.) A portion [focused on much needed improvements for CUSD’s Special Education program] of our Article 6: Compensation & Benefits proposal.
[CAUSE has not submitted a comprehensive proposal on, Article 6: Compensation & Benefits.]
* The Union has also submitted questions and sought information relevant to our financial discussions.
* The Union has received the District’s only proposal on Compensation & Benefits.
No new agreements have been reached during this bargaining cycle. CLASSIFIED negotiations continue, and CAUSE Leadership is relying on the engagement and direct participation of District employees to clarify our interests to District Leadership.
We have updated the CLASSIFIED Collective Bargaining Agreement [i.e. CLASSIFIED – CBA].
After 6 years have passed, CUSD has finally added all our previous agreements to the CLASSIFIED CBA.
The CBA, which defines the professional relationship between employees and the District, has finally been updated. Since the arrival of Superintendent Rigby & Human Resource Director Zapata, the District has failed to properly include each successive year’s agreements, and in some cases, not included portions of agreements at all. This had led to great confusion for any party trying to understand the CLASSIFIED CBA: employees, administrators, Board members, arbitrators, judges, etc.
But as of yesterday, this has been fixed!
Before the update, the District had:
* failed to include hard fought agreements (that often pertaining to employee compensation)
* had removed other hard earned agreements (that minimized the role of CAUSE)
* had added language that the Union never agreed to (and would not ever agree to)
* had embedded information where it did not belong; making it difficult to find important information (such as the Safety Article)
Now that the contract has been updated:
* It is much more reliable and user friendly.
* Information can be easily found using the PDF search function.
* It includes all relevant contract agreements.
* All the mystery language, added without our approval, has been removed.
* All the mysteriously removed language, without our approval, has been returned.
* It is clearly titled with the correct year, 2022-23.
* It contains an accurate CLASSIFIED SALARY SCHEDULE.
ALL CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES are strongly encouraged to download this now current version (2023-24), and maintain a copy for quick reference.
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Please extend your appreciation and support to the rest of the Union’s, 2023-24 * CAUSE Collective Bargaining Team: Gina Marchand, Felicity Moore, Sarah Rochlitzer, & Kassi Hawkins. Their tireless effort and enduring commitment to their colleagues has made all the difference. I personally appreciate the challenges they have accepted while demanding the contract be updated and continuing to carry employee interests to the negotiating table.
In Unity,
~ j. Hotchner * CAUSE President