We’ve heard from our friends in the classified union, who’ve been negotiating a contract for the 450 classified employees of the district.
The good news: after many negotiating sessions, most issues have been resolved.
The bad news: there remain serious sticking points, and negotiations have bogged down. There’s been little progress over the past several months. People are mighty frustrated. And peeved.If you’ve been to recent Board meetings, you know what I’m talking about!
THE “JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES” STUDY:Have you heard about the “Johnson and Associates” study? Eighteen months ago, the board agreed to hire J & A, an independent contractor, to develop a “classification and compensation plan for all positions in the classified bargaining unit at a cost not to exceed $98,500.”
$100K! Jeez, after spending that kind of money, one might suppose that the Board would listen to J & A’s advice! Ha!
(The Board has a history of responding to pricey studies by tossing them in the trash or even acting in defiance of their recommendations. It’s like the Bush administration: if they don’t like a study’s conclusion, then the study gets deep-sixed, and that’s that. It doesn't matter how good it is, or how much taxpayer money has been spent on it!)
J & A’s study addressed all classified positions. Employees were asked to complete a twelve page detailed description of their jobs. These descriptions were then sent to supervisors, and then to area managers, for their input. The results were sent to J & A, which then interviewed employees. 
The upshot of the process was a re-titling or re-definition of classified employees in terms of standard roles and jobs. After some adjustments and corrections, J & A then compared existing classified jobs in the district (with the new titles) to similar positions in local school districts. Seems fair.
Based on these comparisons, J & A produced a list that identified “equitable” salaries for all of the new (standardized) job descriptions.
This list included a very few positions that would freeze in pay until the cost of living rose to meet recommended compensation. Many other positions showed a 2.5% raise recommendation ranging up to three positions with a 31% raise. Most of the actual dollars per month increases hover under $100 with a few spiking up from that. While there is some dissent regarding the recommendations, overall, employees are pleased with Johnson and Associates’ reclass study.
28 CLASSIFIED MANAGERS: Here’s one reason that classified employees are hopping mad: over the next five years the cost of the classified managers’ raises will be roughly $1.9 million!
That’s for only 28 employees!
(You’ll recall the curious timing of these raises. A year ago, as the Board approached a decision re Mathur’s contract and Raghu couldn’t scrape anybody up to speak on his behalf, these stunning raises suddenly materialized. Classified managers—some long known for their low regard of the Chancellor—then showed up at Board meetings to sing the fellow’s praises!)
From the perspective of classified employees, the classified managers’ raises were arbitrary. And they did not reflect the findings of a comparison study done by The Hay Company. DISTRICT LOWBALL:
In negotiations, the District has offered the classified staff “next dollar” raises, to be implemented over the next three years. Are you kidding?
CSEA’s calculations indicate that classified employees can secure “equitable pay” in terms of the J & A study for a cost of $1.7 million.
That’s for all 450 employees!
DISTRICT NEGOTIATOR a WEASEL:
Negotiations have at times become pretty rocky. At one point, unbeknownst to the Board, the J & A study was taken off the negotiations table by lawyer Steve Andelson (the Chief Negotiator for the District).
When Board members learned of this, unsurprisingly, they were surprised. (Same old story. Those people get their info from Mathur.)
In view of the raises that have been bestowed upon all other constituent group in the district—and the recommendations of the J & A study—fairness surely demands that the district come through with a decent offer.
In addition to compliance with the Johnson study, classified negotiators have pressed for a cost of living raise equivalent to the state mandated COLA for the next three—plus continued complete medical coverage. Wanna support our classified brethren (and, um, sistren)? Talk to ‘em. Come to Board meetings wearing red. Speak up!
(Note: the "sexy" photo above is from a recent issue of the Lariat. --CW)
