Progress Made in Negotiations on Sunday; District Sent Further Enhanced Compensation Proposal to SCTA Sunday Evening 

Dear Sac City Unified Families,

The Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) and SCTA continued to make progress in negotiations, and worked well into the evening on Sunday. We will meet on Monday with SCTA and we are scheduled to meet with SEIU at 10:00 am on Monday.

District latest counterproposals to SCTA

The district made additional counterproposals Sunday evening that further enhanced compensation for SCTA-represented employees. These are: 2019-2022 Successor Contract; SCUSD proposal on substitute Pay & Extra Work 2021-2022 School Year;  SCUSD proposal on Safely Reopening Schools to In-Person Instruction/Services & Independent Study;

These district proposals were sent to SCTA in response to the following counterproposals from SCTA: SCTA Counterproposal, 03-27-22, SCTA Counterproposal on Substitute Pay and Extra Work, 03-27-22, and SCTA Counterproposal on Reopening and Independent Study, 03-27-22.

The district’s counterproposal on 2019-2022 Successor Contract provides certainty to employees as the district addresses unsustainable health benefit costs identified by state and independent entities over many decades by including a stipend covering 100% of the out of pocket cost for the HealthNet health benefit plan for one year. As a result, employees who choose to remain on HealthNet through June 30, 2023 will have no out-of-pocket costs while the district identifies additional health care plan choices at the Kaiser plan cost. The district is also offering a stipend of $3,000 for employees that switch from HealthNet to Kaiser.

Negotiations ended shortly before 11:00 pm on Sunday with discussion of counterproposals from SCTA, which the district will give due consideration once received, and will resume negotiations on Monday.

Status of SCTA Negotiations

Enhanced Proposal

Today the district passed counterproposals to SCTA that further enhance the proposed compensation, with the following additions: increase the one time stipend for the 2021-22 school year from 2% to 3%; provide a stipend covering 100% of the difference in the cost of HealthNet and Kaiser through June 30, 2023; provide a $3,000 stipend for employees that move from HealthNet coverage to Kaiser; and begin discussions on additional health care plan choices at the same cost as the Kaiser plan.

The following describes the district’s proposal. The enhancements proposed today are noted in boldface:

Pay Increases

• Ongoing 2% salary increase starting in the 2021-22 school year.

One-Time Bonuses

• Enhanced proposal: Increasing to 3% our offer of a 2% one-time stipend for 2021-2022;
• 1% one-time stipend for 2020-2021;
• 1% one-time stipend for 2019-2020.
• $2,000 signing bonus for new employees hired into a certificated position on or before September 15, 2022 for the 2022-23 school year.

Increased Pay for Substitute Teachers

• Increase substitute teacher daily rate by 25% for substitutes who filled in for absent teachers during the 2021-22 school year.

More Professional Development

• Offer three (3) additional paid days for professional learning, which increases salaries an additional 1.65% for 2022-23.

Health Coverage

• 100% health coverage through Kaiser provided for all-SCTA represented employees and all their immediate family members at no cost to employees.
• Enhanced proposal (March 27): For one year, the district will pay one-hundred (100%) percent – up from 80% – of the difference between the cost of health coverage offered through Kaiser and the cost of a HealthNet plan for those employees that chose to continue HealthNet coverage.
• Employees that already have health coverage can opt to receive $3,000 per year ($250 per month) in-lieu of receiving this coverage through the district.
• Enhanced proposal (March 27):
  • $3,000 stipend for moving from HealthNet to Kaiser
  • Begin discussions on additional health care plan choices at the same cost as the Kaiser plan.

Status of SEIU Negotiations

Separately, the district met with SEIU’s negotiating team on Sunday to discuss our proposal to increase compensation for SEIU-represented employees. The district negotiations team has agreed to meet with SEIU again on Monday. Here is an overview of the district’s proposal to SEIU:

Employee Compensation

• 2% ongoing salary increase, effective July 1, 2022
• $1,000 one-time stipend for 2020-21
• $1,500 one-time stipend for 2021-22
• $1,000 one-time stipend for 2022-23

Bus Driver Incentives

• $2,000 Recruitment and Signing Bonus for new bus drivers who complete the SCUSD training program for bus drivers for the 2022-23 school year.
• $2,000 Recruitment and Signing Bonus for SEIU members who refer a new bus driver who provides service to the district in the 2022-23 school year.
• $5,000 signing bonus for new bus driver employees who are fully licensed to drive a bus. In order to receive the signing bonus, the employee must provide service to the District for the entire 2022-23 school year.

After the negotiations session, SEIU shared its counter proposal as follows:

“SEIU Local 1021 seeks equity and social justice for all classified workers recognized by the District having lower paying salaries. To that end SEIU proposes improvements in a total overall economic package that meets or exceeds the agreement with SCTA.”

By offering equal dollar amount stipends to SEIU, instead of the percentage-based stipends we’re offering to SCTA, we are offering our hourly paid employees significantly more money than what they would receive from a stipend based 1-2% of their annual salary. To match the proposed SCTA percentage-based stipend would result in a lower dollar amount for most of our SEIU-represented employees. Contrary to a percentage-based stipends, these dollar-amount stipends reflect our commitment to equity and social justice for all employees. The district’s negotiations team has asked SEIU to please clarify the improvements it wants in the overall economic package in the contract and the equity changes they are proposing.

The district is committed to continue separate negotiations with SEIU and SCTA in order to reach agreements with both bargaining groups. Until then, we encourage SCTA and SEIU to suspend their strike and let our students get back to school.