Â鶹¹ú²úAV Provides FAQ on Negotiations
Sacramento, CA – The following letter
was sent from Â鶹¹ú²úAV to District
families about a new information resource on the status of
negotiations with the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA)
and Service Employees International Union 1021 (SEIU).
Dear Â鶹¹ú²úAV Families:
We know that talk of a strike is unsettling for families and
staff. It is incredibly disappointing that the leaders of SCTA
and SEIU are willing to stage a walkout after nearly three school
years of interrupted learning due to COVID-related school
closures, illness, and quarantines. Please be assured that
district leadership staff and the district’s Board of Education
want to avoid a strike and remain committed to negotiating in
good faith with the leaders of SCTA.
We participated in a Fact Finding hearing on Monday March 7. The
Fact Finding report is expected to be made public tomorrow,
Thursday March 17. That report will offer recommendations that
could be the basis for a possible settlement on COVID-19 related
issues. Release of this report is the end of the official impasse
procedures of the state collective bargaining law. Nevertheless,
we are committed to continuing to bargain in good faith with SCTA
and hope to reach a mutually acceptable agreement so we can avoid
a work stoppage.
We respect your right to make your own decisions about this
dispute based on the information you’ve received from a variety
of sources. We have prepared and posted on our website a
new Negotiations
FAQ that answers questions raised by information that
you have received. This FAQ will be updated regularly with
additional information. You will also find regularly updated
information on the district’s Negotiations Updates
webpage.
In the event of a strike, we would expect that SCTA and SEIU will
give us enough advance notice so that we can plan and safely keep
our schools open. While this is our commitment to you, we also
operate under limitations that may make it difficult for us to
keep our schools open. Specifically, because substitute teachers
in Â鶹¹ú²úAV are represented by SCTA the district cannot hire
substitutes to fill in for teachers who are out on strike.
We will continue to communicate and will share additional
details about what will happen if SCTA and SEIU set a date for a
strike.
Thank you for your patience, understanding and support as we work
to prioritize Â鶹¹ú²úAV students while addressing differences with
our labor partners SCTA and SEIU.
Sincerely,
Jorge A. Aguilar, Superintendent
Just the FAQs
Answers to frequently asked questions about the current labor negotiations between the Â鶹¹ú²úAV (Â鶹¹ú²úAV) and the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA).
THE STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS, MEDIATION & FACT FINDING
Q: Where do negotiations stand between the District and
SCTA?
A: The District is negotiating with SCTA on two
tracks simultaneously:
One negotiation track is to reach agreements on a set of MOUs
that address issues related to COVID for this 2021-22 school year
only. Since we are well into the school year and have not
been able to reach agreement with SCTA on these COVID-related
issues, the district
declared impasse in these negotiations in December 2021.
Declaring impasse means we asked a mediator to help. Neutral
mediators were called in to facilitate talks, but after several
sessions the mediators recommended that both parties participate
in a Fact Finding process, which is the next step under
California law. A report from the Fact Finding process is
expected on March 17.
The other negotiation track is over a successor agreement with
SCTA that addresses ongoing issues like salaries and benefits,
and other working conditions. The last contract between the
district and SCTA expired in 2019, and since February 2019 the
district has been attempting to reach agreement with SCTA on a
successor contract. Negotiations over the successor agreement are
ongoing, and impasse has not been declared over successor
contract negotiations.
Q: What are the district’s COVID-related reopening
proposals?
A: Because teaching and learning during a
pandemic has presented extra challenges, Sacramento City Unified
has tried since last July to problem solve and reach an agreement
with SCTA so schools could reopen safely and the district could
provide the best education possible under the constraints of the
pandemic this school year.
The district’s proposals to SCTA included:
- Providing who volunteered to take on additional students in independent study;
- Providing and our existing secondary teachers who substituted during their prep period;
- Providing who took on COVID-related duties after regular work hours;
- Supporting students who were required to quarantine by providing simultaneous in-person and remote instruction for students in short-term independent study, with ;
- Complying with the COVID-19 public health guidance and recommendations for schools, detailed in the district’s ; and
- Addressing staffing shortages by temporarily utilizing 28 District Training Specialists to .
Q: Can’t the district simply implement its COVID-related
proposals for the 2021-22 school year since we are nearly at the
end of the year?
A: No. The district does not have the
authority to give extra pay to staff, including teachers,
substitutes, and nurses, who are represented by our labor
partners, unless the extra pay is negotiated. The lack of
agreement over these COVID-related issues has prevented staff
from benefiting from extra pay for taking on extra work related
to COVID. Without an agreement, the district cannot assign
district training specialists who usually work at the district
office to cover classes when there is a vacancy at a school site.
Many districts throughout the state use this strategy to address
vacancies, and their unions have agreed with this approach. The
months-long delay in reaching agreement in our district has made
Â鶹¹ú²úAV’s staffing situation worse.
UNDERSTANDING FACT FINDING
Q: What is Fact Finding?
A: Fact Finding is the end of the
impasse resolution process mandated by the state’s collective
bargaining law. Once labor and management cannot resolve their
differences through negotiation, one or both sides declare
impasse and ask for the state’s help. During impasse, a neutral
mediator is called in to facilitate the talks. If the mediator
believes that further negotiations would not be fruitful, they
can certify the dispute to go to Fact Finding.
Q: How does Fact Finding work?
A: In Fact Finding, each side designates
one person to serve on a three-person hearing panel and an
independent neutral serves as the panel chair. Both sides of the
labor dispute submit their last best offers along with supporting
data and evidence to the three-person panel at a hearing. This
hearing is closed to the public. Both sides have a chance to
argue their positions and the panel has a chance to ask
questions. Once the hearing concludes the chairperson prepares a
report. The report makes recommendations that are not binding on
the parties. Once their report is made public, the union has the
legal authority to strike and the school district can
unilaterally implement its final proposals if it chooses to do
so.
Q: What issues are within the scope of the Fact
Finding hearing?
A: In its mpasse
filing
to PERB, the district narrowly defined the issues at impasse
as those related to COVID to protect continuity of learning this
school year. Since it is now nearly the last quarter of the
school year, the district is still eager to resolve these
outstanding issues in a way that best serves all students.
During the Fact Finding hearing, the district restated its
position that the current impasse concerned only negotiations
pertaining to 2021-2022 school year COVID-19 related issues and
reopening plans. See the district’s March 4, 2022 letter:
Scope of Issues for Fact Finding, and March 11, 2022 letter:
Supplemental Issues for Fact Finding.
THE THREAT OF A STRIKE
Q: Are teachers going to go on strike?
A: SCTA and SEIU leaders have been authorized by their
members to call a strike. We believe that a strike would
be harmful to our students and families. If SCTA and SEIU strike
the district will do its best to keep schools open and safe for
students. The district is exploring a number of options to
provide appropriate adult supervision on school sites in the
event of a strike. Because substitute teachers in Â鶹¹ú²úAV are
represented by SCTA the district cannot hire substitutes to fill
in for teachers who are out on strike instead of in the
classroom.
Q: SCTA says they voted to strike now because the
district will impose a salary freeze and cuts to benefits once
the Fact Finding report comes out. Is that true?
A: This is false. The district is unable to
impose such changes following the release of the Fact Finding
report because the district and SCTA are not at an impasse in
negotiations over successor contract issues, including salaries
and benefits. SCTA has even acknowledged
this. The district is prepared to continue to negotiate on
successor contract issues. It is unfortunate SCTA’s leadership is
now saying something different and talking about striking over
salaries and benefits.
Q: SCTA says that the district has a list of staff names
on a new layoff and cut list and it has not been shared with
them. Is that true?
A: This is not true. There is no list. The
district did not issue any teacher layoffs this year. Therefore,
there can’t be a list of cuts and layoffs waiting to be
implemented after Fact Finding.
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