California Educator

February / March 2018

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TOM LEFEVERS North Tahoe High School Tahoe Truckee Education Association In February, when district schools closed for a snow day, members of the bargaining team drove through a storm to sit down with the district and negotiate a contract. Fortunately, a deal was hammered out before those in the building got snowed in, says LeFevers, an ELD and English teacher who's been lead negotiator since 2015. "We wanted to get it done, and I'm very proud of my team for being willing to do that," he says. The deal offered members a 9 percent increase in wages and health benefits. LeFevers received letters from members thanking him for his service. It almost felt like being in the military, he muses. I decided to join the bargaining team… because I felt it was my turn. Over the years I've been raising a family and been a coach while others on the bargaining team did great things. I reached a point in my career when most of the kids were out of the house, and I figured it was finally my turn and said OK , I'll do it. During negotiations… you have to stay focused with your game face on. It takes lots of strategizing. You need to be skilled at nuances and watch- ing people on the other team. We look at body language like crossed arms and rolling of eyes, and talk about what it means afterward. We don't miss much. As a lead negotiator… you need to work out an agreement that is best for the major- ity of your members, and sometimes what you decide may not be popular with everyone. You need to make sure members of the bargaining team put their personal interests aside and do what is best for the common good. Your decisions affect peo- ple's lives much more than I had ever realized. 62 cta.org CTA & You California Teachers and Collective Bargaining O N S E P T . 2 2 , 19 7 5 , Gov. Jerry Brown signed CTA-sponsored Senate Bill 160 by state Sen. Al Rodda, known as the Edu- cational Employment Relations Act or the Rodda Act, to give California public school teachers collective bargaining rights and allow them to join in union to strengthen and protect their profession and students' education. A primary function of CTA and its locals is to represent teachers in negoti- ating the terms of employment contracts. Critical job issues within the legal scope of bargaining include compensation, hours of work, safety matters, class size, evalu- ation and disciplinary procedures, health care, access to personnel files, preparation time, seniority, transfer rights, a grievance procedure with binding arbitration to settle major disputes, discrimination, job assign- ments, and early retirement. The school board and the union must review the terms of the existing agree- ment at least once every three years. As noted by Ed-Data, negotiations can also "discuss problems and address new issues that have arisen during the period of the contract. … [such as] when the Legislature and governor have passed new laws — for example, about school finance or teacher training and evaluation. A district can implement these laws only after the impact has been bargained." Each party 's initial bargaining proposal must be presented for public comment at a publicized school board meeting. Any new subjects raised later must be made public within 24 hours. The board must explain the financial impact of any proposed settlement before adopting the final contract. A signed contract is binding on both the board and the union. It applies to all teachers in the bargaining unit whether or not they are union members. Educa- tors who have joined the union pay union dues. Those who have not joined pay a " fair share" ser vice fee, covering the costs of negotiating pay, benefits and working conditions.

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