La Cañada Unified, teachers’ union reps wage word war in contract negotiations
Just days away from La Cañada Unified’s “Week of the Teacher” — and one week after teachers’ union reps claimed the district shifted away from interest-based bargaining toward “adversarial” contract talks — the two parties are engaged in a battle of statements.
With negotiating parties holding a series of hours-long meetings early last week, it seemed a mutual agreement over teacher pay raises and a revision of LCUSD’s salary schedule for the upcoming school year was imminent. But hopes for a quick and peaceable solution seemed to fade last Wednesday evening, when La Cañada Teachers Assn. President Mandy Redfern issued a progress report to the media.
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“The school district unilaterally moved the bargaining process from Interest Based Bargaining (IBB) to adversarial, positions-based bargaining at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27,” Redfern said in the statement. “LCTA remains committed to the IBB process and reaching a fair settlement.”
La Cañada Unified Supt. Wendy Sinnette immediately issued a district statement outlining several offers that had been made, and apparently rejected by, LCTA representatives. She said teachers were offered a 4.1% raise retroactive to the start of the current school year and increases in the salary schedule in key areas, amounting to an average increase of 4.3%.
“The district is committed to the continued pursuit of providing our outstanding teachers with the respect and compensation they deserve,” Sinnette’s release stated.
Each side has since released statements countering points made by the other. LCTA’s missives are posted at lcteachers.net, while district officials have been communicating through online updates at lcusd.net. Further discussions, from teachers and community members not involved directly in the talks, have followed on Facebook.
In two detailed updates also posted on April 28, LCTA attempted to contextualize the district’s stated offers, indicating the salary increase of 4.1% would effectively be negated next school year by the new salary schedule.
One statement maintained the schedule improvements being offered would not be so high for most educators, and would be largely eaten by the employees’ increasing retirement contributions mandated by the state.
“The average member will see only a 2.68% salary increase in the proposed restructure. (Retirement) contributions will increase by 1% of salary next year with an approximate .5% increase in healthcare premiums,” it read, calculating the net increase to be just 1.18% in teachers’ paychecks.
LCTA’s bargaining team indicated it planned to present a counter offer, including “a fair and meaningful salary increase” to district officials at an upcoming meeting, but no mention has been made of when that might occur. Redfern expressed a willingness to talk to the Valley Sun about the statements but could not be directly reached for an interview by press time.
In a subsequent response dated the same day, Sinnette and LCUSD Governing Board members acknowledged interest-based bargaining was failing to move the two parties forward, but credited the union’s actions for the official closure of IBB talks.
Sinnette maintained LCTA’s recent statements “cast a negative light on the collective work of both parties” and called any notion that the district ever planned to not offer teacher raises — referred to in several public comments made by teachers, parents and students at past board meetings — “misinformation.”
“Last year when [LCTA] accepted a 4% increase we knew that more work needed to be done on salaries, and I promised that work would be done,” the superintendent stated. “At no time was it ever contemplated or authorized that the district would offer a 0% increase to our valued teachers.”
Sinnette said in an email Friday she would be unable to make follow-up comments, and that the two parties planned to set dates to continue negotiations. LCUSD Board President David Sagal, however, submitted an article for this week’s “Forum” section of the Valley Sun (on A5).
The next school board meeting takes place Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the LCUSD Governing Board Room, 4490 Cornishon Ave., La Cañada.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
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