After a year of negotiating, the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) and California School Employees Association (CSEA) reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday, April 13—with salary increases of less than half of what CSEA had asked.
The tentative agreement is now in the process of being ratified by members of CSEA—a union representing 2,100 of the district’s classified employees, including instructional aides, nutrition-services workers, bus drivers, custodians and gardeners.
The tentative agreement reflects LBUSD’s proposed salary increases of 1% retroactive to July 1, 2019, an additional 2% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2020, and a one-time payment of 2% of salary, averaging about $1,100 for each employee.
CSEA had asked for a raise of 3% retroactive to July 1, 2019, another 4% retroactive to July 1, 2020, and one-time bonuses of $1,250 each for retention as essential workers and $1,000 for hazard pay for working in-person during the pandemic.
“We’re asking for that 7% because our members don’t make that much money,” CSEA Unit Vice President Enrique Chavez told the LBUSD Board of Education on March 16. “Gas is extremely high, groceries are extremely high, and if you want to live in Long Beach, it’s near impossible now to find a studio for under $1,800.”
If the tentative agreement is ratified by CSEA members, and subsequently approved by the LBUSD board, employees could expect to receive retroactive paychecks in June, ongoing salary increases starting in July and a one-time payment of 2% of their salary sometime during the summer, according to LBUSD Director of Employee Relations and Ethics Steve Rockenbach.
The California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) had to step in to assist with negotiations after LBUSD and CSEA failed to reach an agreement over raises before the union’s contract with the district expired last October.
In its March 29 fact-finding report, PERB recommended a raise schedule aligned with LBUSD’s proposed amounts rather than CSEA’s demands for more than twice as much.
Donald Raczka, chairperson of the fact-finding PERB panel, stated in his report that the recommendations were swayed by LBUSD’s comparison of its compensation with comparable school districts and a 3.26% cost-of-living adjustment given by the State for 2020 and 2021.
“After reviewing all the data presented, the chair [Raczka] found that the district’s ongoing salary proposals were consistent with maintaining an above-average comparative rank within the comparable districts,” Raczka stated.
If implemented, CSEA member salaries would reflect an increase of about 3.02%. However, a new contract would also include a potential salary increase for the current 2021-2022 school year, yet to be negotiated.
LBUSD Superintendent Jill Baker announced in an April 13 video bargaining update that the raise schedule is comparable to what teachers and other employees previously accepted, adding that it was “well deserved.”
“We appreciate the patience of our hardworking classified employees,” Baker said. “We hope that this information will help to alleviate the uncertainty that you have faced regarding a competitive wage increase.”
Teachers union salary negotiations also continue
Meanwhile, salary negotiations begun five months ago are continuing between LBUSD and the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB), a union representing about 3,700 of the district’s teachers, also focusing on salary increases in its next contract.
TALB is requesting a 6% ongoing salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2021 plus a 1% one-time payment whereas LBUSD’s latest March 25 offering is a 4% increase and 3% one-time payment.
According to TALB’s website, its next bargaining date with LBUSD is tentatively scheduled for Friday, April 29.
TALB members marched outside with CSEA members and spoke during the LBUSD board’s April 13 meeting expressing “frustration and anger”—as voiced by more than one member—over what they say is LBUSD’s unwillingness to compromise and spend its nearly $400 million in reserve funds on necessary employees.
Susan Garcia, a teacher and member of TALB’s executive board, said the union is only asking for wages that keep up with inflation and that LBUSD should pay teachers rather than fund unnecessary programs.
“Trust your teachers, trust the educators, your front line workers,“ Garcia said. “Quit shoving programs down our throats that don’t really work.”
John Solomon, a fourth-grade teacher and TALB board secretary, questioned the board on why LBUSD has gotten into salary impasses with two of its biggest employee unions, TALB and CSEA.
“Your priorities are completely twisted,” he said. “We have saved this district’s butt during the pandemic. Don’t tell us how valuable we are—show us.”
