Negotiations Committee Updates

Negotiations Team:  Tom Kenefick, Wendy Shapard,

Earle Warner, Curtis Dison, Robert Hennings & Debra Washington

From the Table 3/1/2010  Long version for Website
 
This year, the District’s approach to negotiations is nothing more than Union Busting!  Your union constantly keeps an eye on the doings at 9680 Citrus Avenue, and when the district takes actions that violate our Collective Bargaining Agreement, your union aggressively moves to protect you.  It appears, therefore, that the district has decided to try to destroy FTA as an effective member-based teachers union.
 
In dealing with the District, your Negotiations team ALWAYS deals in good faith.  We believe that having open, honest discussions accomplishes much more than limited talks and handing offers and counter offers back and forth…  We wish the District agreed with this approach.  Unfortunately, they don’t.
 

The District’s first Union Busting strategy is evident in their proposal on Retirement, which is designed to split our membership between the Haves and the Have-Nots.  The District wants some members to have health benefits after they retire, and others to have nothing.  The fiscal savings of this proposal, if any, would not be realized for another 15 years, but would create a two-tier system within the FTA membership.

 
The timing of the District’s next proposal also demonstrates their next attempt at Union Busting.  Even though the District has been well aware of the financial crisis facing all of us, the District waited until 4 days before the majority of our membership goes off track to officially propose Budget Cut Days (a.k.a. furlough days) to the FTA Negotiations Team. The District is well aware of the calendar.  When exactly do they expect your Negotiations Team to be able to communicate with you on the subject of Budget Cut Days?  Was it the intent of the District to consciously and deliberately stall until Monday before making its Budget Cut Day proposal? 
 
Your Negotiations Team has several problems with the district’s “proposal” for Budget Cut days and their apparent bargaining strategy:
 

·   Yolanda Mendoza, Associate Superintendent, Human Resources, made it very clear that, while they would save the District money, Budget Cut Days would NOT save jobs.

·   At the Monday meeting, we were informed that the Steelworkers’ Union was invited to negotiate an MOU regarding Budget Cut Days in the middle of February, and that the School Police have already ratified an MOU.

·   The District’s proposal asks for 5 Budget Cut Days.  We don’t know when these 5 days would be, but we do know that a 5 day cut for a teacher equals a 2.7% pay cut, while a district administrator would only suffer a 2.1% pay cut for the same 5 days.

 

Also at the Monday meeting, the District announced that it had decided to violate our Collective Bargaining Agreement through a direct attack on the structure of FTA’s leadership.  The Collective Bargaining Agreement explicitly requires that the district pay the salary of the FTA President.   Having a full-time release president has served both FTA and FUSD well for the last 20 years.  A “full-time release” president assures that when our bargaining unit members run into a problem, they can reach someone at FTA who can step right in and help solve any dispute with the district. The refusal to continue paying the salary of your FTA President, which the superintendent plans to impose, regardless of whether FTA agrees or not, is an action in direct contradiction to the presentation at the February 17th School Board meeting which identified the FTA President’s salary as a negotiable item, and is a clear example of Union Busting.

 
FTA considers all these actions to be Union Busting!  Their goal is to weaken your Association.  The District does not want FTA bargaining unit members to be represented in a fair, equitable manner.  They do not want unions challenging their figures and demanding accountability.
 
The lead negotiator for the District is Yolanda Mendoza.  She can be reached at (909) 357-5000, ex. 7065, or Mendyo@fusd.net. 
 
The district Superintendent can be reached at (909) 357-5000, ex. 7010, or BinkCL@fusd.net.
 
Exercise your First Amendment right to organize and speak up against abuses of power.  Let the superintendent and her lead negotiator know how you feel about these Union Busting tactics!

Fontana Teachers Association February 22, 2010

　

On Wednesday, February 17th, Superintendent Olsen-Binks presented a list of possible budget cuts to the School Board. Listed among these cuts were several options that would need to be bargained through the negotiations process.

On Friday, February 19th, the District responded to a question on “The Buzz” by saying: “Furlough days for bargaining unit members are negotiable but FUSD is making formal proposals to our three units with management included.”

As of today, Monday, February 22, 2010, the District has not even contacted the FTA Negotiations Team to schedule formal negotiations meetings regarding any possible negotiable cuts which were presented in the board meeting or being discussed on “The Buzz.”

State law requires the District to make offers and negotiate exclusively with your Association. The Educational Employment Relations Act requires that both parties negotiate only through formal negotiations meetings so that all members of your Association have equal representation.

The FTA Negotiations Team will not agree to any negotiable budget cuts outside of the legal negotiations process nor without a full discussion within the FTA membership.

As this goes to print, 4 ½ days after School Board meeting of the 17th, the District has made no offer to meet with the FTA Negotiations Team regarding budget cuts.

We will you keep you posted…


　

From the Table

Fontana Teachers Association February 10, 2010
 

Since Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget was released in early January, the District has announced that they are faced with a $25-$30 million shortfall.  This has led to a number of rumors circulating regarding what will happen to our classroom, our jobs, and our friend’s jobs.  The proposed budget is just that, proposed.  We have no idea how education in general, or Fontana Unified in particular, will be affected until an actual budget is agreed upon.

 That does not mean we should sit back and wait.  Your Negotiations team has been meeting to discuss options, and this past week, we met with an analyst from CTA to go over the District’s interim financial report.  Some dramatic changes in spending patterns have led us to demand a more thorough look at this report.  We want to make sure that these tough times, the District is being fiscally prudent with the money it receives.  We anticipate this report to be provided within a week.

 In the meantime, if the financial condition of our District is as bleak as they would lead us to believe, we will have to make tough choices.  These choices will not be made by a few members of the Negotiating Team, or by the Executive Board, but by you, the members.  To help you make knowledgeable choices, we are scheduling two informational meetings in the upcoming weeks to discuss possible options, and the impact each option will have on our Association.  The dates for these meetings are February 17, at 4:00 p.m., for elementary members, and February 19, at 3:30 p.m. for middle and high school members.  These meetings will be at the FTA office at 16850 Seville Avenue, in Fontana.  Please plan to attend!

 We will also be asking our site reps to make negotiations updates a mandatory part of their 10 minute meetings.  Additionally, our Technology committee will be posting updates on our website, at fontanateachers.org, as well as on Facebook.