Negotiations Team At The Table

     On Friday, November 14th our Negotiations Team will go to the Bargaining table with the RUSD School Board's Administrative representatives.

     RTA Vice President and Negotiations Chairperson Maria Clark will lead our team, which includes Matt Fry (RHS), Tito Costakes (REV), Chuck Mendoza (Cope), Dave Gillotti (Mentone), and CBU/CTA staff member Mike Kress.

    We are currently in the second year of a three year contract with the District. The team will be taking two Contract Article re-openers, as outlined in the parameters of our current contract, as well as a Total Compensation package regarding Salary and Benefits to the table.

    Given the current State fiscal problems, the team will be asking for a settlement that is ABSOLUTELY DOABLE AND AFFORDABLE by the District.

    Language items include a proposal to modify the salary surcharge to our members that have used all of their regular Sick Leave days and are in the 100 day Extended Illness Leave category. Currently, our members are docked 50% of their pay for each day they use Extended Illness Leave. Our proposal would change that charge from half a day's pay to simply the cost of the substitute required to replace our member at their job site, whether or not a sub was assigned for the day.

    Our rationale for this change is supported by Ed Code language, as well as the fact that our comparable Metro Districts, which include Riverside, Alvord, Colton, Corona, Fontana, Jurupa, Moreno Valley, Rialto, San Bernardino, and Yucaipa ALL ONLY CHARGE THE COST OF THE SUB for Extended Illness Leave....not a half day's pay. During our budget study with the District we were informed that this modification to our contract would cost approximately $65,000....... or about as much as the District is now paying former Superintendent Bob Hodges, former Deputy Superintendent Cindy Andrews (who currently has her own office at the D.O.), and the Attorney the District will now be bringing to the Bargaining Table, in consulting fees.

    Another important language item in our proposal calls for the reinstatement of Bereavement and Jury Duty Leave for our RISE and Adult Ed members, a benefit that they received for some 30 years before the District unilaterally removed it a few years back. The rationale for this proposal....it would be fair to say that taking care of our employees when they have had a death in the family or are performing a civic duty is the only RIGHT thing to do. The fiscal impact of this portion of our proposal does not even amount to budget dust in the big picture.

    As for our Total Compensation proposal, our Medical Benefits are the only real cost item on the table. You may recall that last May we were facing a 14.5% increase ($1.7 million) to the cost of funding our Benefits Plan. We proactively voted to modify our plan, pay more for office visits, And, in doing so, reduced the increase by over a million dollars to about 5.47% or approximately $770,000. In any other budget year in recent memory, this 5.4% increase would be considered a nominal cost to be covered as any other yearly increase in the cost of doing business here in our District.

    As of this date, RUSD has received a .68% COLA increase to the Base Revenue Limit for this year. That is approximately $800,000 in new funding, on top of the largest Unrestricted Carryover (some $11 million from 2007/08) in many years.

    The Negotiations Team will be going to the table with the firm position that the District can more than afford to pay the remainder of the Benefits Cost Increase, in that the COLA alone is sufficient to cover the cost. In the event that the State Legislature were to make mid-year cuts this year that negated the COLA, it is also are position going into negotiations that the remaining increase to the Benefits costs should be paid out of existing District reserves.

             Given the fact that we do not have an expectation of a salary increase in these turbulent times, and that we have already been paying increased benefit costs out of pocket since July 1st, the team feels that our members have already done their part to assist the District with the increase in Health Care costs.

    Here lies the rub. All indications from the District Administration, especially with the inclusion of an Attorney at the Bargaining Table, are that the School Board is digging in on their proposal to cap the District's contribution to our Benefits Plan.

            With no salary increases on the horizon for what looks like the next couple of years, an ever rising cost of living, and investment losses a reality for many of our members, this is the worst possible time to ask us to pay more out of pocket for our Benefits.

            The employees, Certificated and Classified alike, stepped up last Spring and did our part to address the Benefit increase. It is now the Board’s turn.

             Test scores are up, we have done the job. We are asking for a minimal increase in compensation for maximum plus efforts on the job. We look to the District Administration and School Board, in good faith, to settle this contract in a minimum number of sessions.

            With what appears to be an impending showdown in Sacramento regarding mid-year cuts in this year’s State Budget, and predicted hard times for 2009/2010 Statewide, it is in the best interest of all to get this contract settled immediately….much in the same way as we did last year.

            Then we can move on with the District in the collaborative style that has carried us through many tough times in the past, as we prepare for what may be possible devastating cuts this year and into the challenge of 2009/2010.