Quick Take
Teachers unions at Pacific Collegiate School and in Pajaro Valley Unified School District have reached an impasse with administrators after months of stalled contract negotiations over pay and benefits, moving them closer to a potential strike. The disagreements center on salary increases and a proposed cap on health benefits.
Amid a year of high tensions – and in some cases, strikes – between California teachers unions and their administrators over pay and benefits, two Santa Cruz County teachers unions say they’re now at an impasse, putting them one step closer to a potential strike.
Following months of negotiations, unions at Pacific Collegiate School and in Pajaro Valley Unified School District announced last week that they’re at an impasse with their administrators.
PVUSD teachers say they’re not accepting the district’s proposal to put a cap on how much the district contributes to health benefits costs. PCS teachers say the district’s 1.5% salary increase proposal is not enough. The California Public Employment Relations Board declared an impasse for PCS in March.
Pacific Collegiate School serves 535 students in grades seven through 12 on its Westside Santa Cruz campus. The school is often considered among the top in the state for how rigorously it prepares its students for college – it was recently ranked ninth-best high school in California by the U.S. News and World Report.
“What’s best for our teachers is also what’s best for our students and community,” said Devon Lincoln, United PCS chapter president, in a statement. “It’s time for PCS to finally set a meaningful path forward on fair wages and a stable future for the school and its teachers.”
When an impasse is declared, it means that regular negotiation methods are no longer progressing and other means are needed, such as a third-party mediator. If mediation doesn’t lead to an agreement, then the parties enter a fact-finding phase.
A fact-finding panel, including one person representing the school or district, one teachers union member and one mediator, reviews the evidence and arguments of the parties and issues recommendations to reach a settlement. If no agreement is reached, the district can propose a final offer. At this stage, if no agreement has been reached after the final offer, the unions can vote on whether to authorize a strike.
Lincoln told Lookout that all 36 of the union’s due-paying members pledged that they were willing to strike.
However, with only one month left of the school year, there isn’t enough time to get through mediation and fact-finding to reach the strike stage this year. Mediation and fact-finding can each take about a month.
Still, PVUSD teachers “are organizing and preparing to be strike ready when the time comes,” said union president Brandon Diniz.
The union representing PVUSD teachers, Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, announced last week that the district declared an impasse when the teachers union refused to accept the district’s proposal for a health benefits cap and a 7% salary increase over three years. The union is also pushing for smaller class sizes and smaller caseloads for special education workers.
Diniz said that the Public Employment Relations Board is reviewing the impasse filing and, following a certification, a mediator will be appointed.
“I think that the teachers are very frustrated with what feels like a very disingenuous process on the district’s end,” Diniz said. “It seems like ultimately their goal has been to get to the point where they can impose a benefits cap or try to force us to yield and give up our benefits.”
Before the district’s governing board meeting in the Watsonville City Council chambers on Wednesday evening, the union will be hosting a rally to demand that the district drop the health benefits cap.
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