Get Set for Negotiations on Health Care and Talks on Hours, Safety, Training, and More
We’re preparing for the second phase of our negotiations with the District. Our new contract allows us to open up negotiations with the District to expand affordable health care to thousands of members who currently don’t have access to LAUSD’s plan. Health Care talks with the District are set to begin by September 30.
Our new contract also established committees that will allow us to address key worksite issues with the District including: increasing work hours and the work year and avoiding reductions in hours, ensuing safety on the job, sufficient materials to complete our work, and training programs to ensure Local 99 members have opportunities to gain job promotions.
To make sure we move forward as quickly as possible on these issues, SEIU Local 99 President Barbara Torres and Vice President Sandra Lee, as well as other members of the contract bargaining team, will sit on the health care bargaining team and on the committees addressing hours, work year, safety, and training. Stay tuned for updates as these talks with the District get underway.
Sign-Up Period Extended!
Make Sure You Have a Voice in the District’s New Job Evaluation Program
In our new contract with LAUSD, the District agreed to work with Local 99 members to pilot a new job evaluation system before it is implemented. Local 99 members’ recommendations on the new evaluation program will be considered and the District will meet with Local 99 to agree on any changes to the evaluation program before it is implemented District-wide.
Local 99 members will be able to participate in the pilot on a voluntary basis during work hours. All member volunteers completing the pilot program will receive a one-time payment of $200.00. At Local 99’s request, the District has extended the registration period for this program and more dates are being added. Information will be posted on our website www.seiu99.org as soon as it is available from the District or sign-up to receive text alerts by texting SEIU99 to 787753.
Participation in the pilot is voluntary and will not count as your actual evaluation for the year. Please note that in order to participate in this pilot you must have passed the probation period in your position by October 2014. Additional priority will be given to those with at least 2 years with the District, and in their classification.
The district has also assured Local 99 that principals will have no veto power on whether Local 99 members can participate in the pilot program.
Survey Says: Members Ready To Build On Contract Victories
Since heading back to school, thousands of SEIU Local 99 members in hundreds of schools and worksites have participated in union meetings to learn more about our historic new contract. As part of our meetings, we’ve asked members about their worksite priorities and willingness to take action to build on our gains. The results have been impressive: 94% of members say they support their union, SEIU Local 99; a great majority is ready to participate in union activities, including 41% saying they will distribute flyers and information at their worksites, and training and advancement was identified as a top issue by 32% of members surveyed. You can let us know what you think by taking the survey here.
Why I’m proud of our Bargaining Team
By Edna Logan, Custodian at Esteban Torres High School
I make more than $15 an hour. But two thirds of our sisters and brothers in Local 99 were earning poverty wages. We needed a more even playing field for all of us.
I had the honor of working with amazing union sisters and brothers as part of the SEIU Local 99 Bargaining Team. We fought hard to win wage increases for everyone for the first time since the devastating $18 billion in state education cuts. The $15 an hour minimum wage we won in our new contract represents the highest wage increase ever in our history of bargaining with the District.
But even as we considered this great increase in the minimum wage, we carefully weighed what it would mean for the rest of us. Many of us at the bargaining table earn more than $15 and we know it’s not easy providing for ourselves and our families. It was a difficult decision but, ultimately, we knew we were there at that table to represent the greatest good for the greatest number of Local 99 members. I didn’t have the heart to give myself a larger raise if it meant keeping brothers and sisters at poverty level. And I know that we can’t take the ceiling through the roof before we raise the floor. The new $15 minimum wage at the District means we’re in a stronger position to push for greater increases for all in future contracts.
There’s some misinformation at our schools. Folks are confused about the word “contingent” in our new contract. The reality is, thanks to Local 99 members who worked to pass Proposition 30, LAUSD stands to receive millions of additional dollars over the next few years. I am confident that our raises will be funded.
I want to make sure no one is unaware of the other very strong gains we made in this contract in addition to raises. This fall, we’ll resume talks with the District to increase work hours and restore work year bases; ensure thousands more Local 99 members and their families are covered by health care benefits; and increase training and job promotion opportunities.
Finally, I encourage people to get involved in our union. There’s so much we need to accomplish here in our schools and in our communities. Someone once came to me and encouraged me to get involved. Now I’m encouraging you!
“We are a Fight for $15 Family!”
By SEIU Local 99 member Vilma Perez
My name is Vilma Perez. I’m a cafeteria worker for the Los Angeles Unified School District at Kingsley Elementary School in East Hollywood.
My husband, Bartolome, and I both work very hard to support our family. In addition to our own expenses, we help care for my granddaughter while my daughter goes to college to build a good life for the both of them.
My husband works for McDonald’s. He’s worked for them for 21 years. He makes $10.75 an hour. In 2011, after all those years of working hard for them, they cut his hours. They told him he was too old and too slow. They took away a whole day, cutting his earnings by 25%. We had to apply for food stamps that year.
Last year, my husband was approached by the leaders of the Fight for $15 movement to win a decent wage for fast food workers. He became a leader, too, speaking out on behalf of the millions of people working for very low wages in this very, very rich industry.
My husband doesn’t get any benefits. Luckily, my union, SEIU Local 99, fought to give cafeteria workers an extra hour of work, qualifying me and my family for medical, dental, and vision coverage. That was such an important victory for us. Even my daughter will be covered until she turns 26.
Then, during the fast food workers’ fight for a $15 minimum wage, I learned an amazing thing. Hanna, one of the organizers of the fast food fight for $15 said to me, “Hey Vilma, that’s great that your union is also fighting for $15!” That’s when I learned that we had submitted a proposal to LAUSD demanding a $15 minimum wage. So we are a Fight for $15 Family!
In July, we ratified our new contract with LAUSD. We won our $15 dollars.
OASIS Summer Pilot a Big Success!
The OASIS program, which brings critical services directly to students and families in their local schools (our schools!), completed its Summer Pilot with great success. OASIS kicked-off in June at: Audubon Middle School, Fremont High School, Utah Street School, and Venice High School.
This new program, spearheaded by Local 99, will continue its first year pilot at these four schools throughout the 2014-15 school year. Our recent union contract with LAUSD includes a commitment from the District to work with Local 99 to expand this program in our communities. Services provided this summer made sure it’s off to a great start:
- Vision to Learn, an OASIS partner organization, provided 117 FREE eye exams and 114 FREE pairs of eyeglasses to students at OASIS schools.
- Local 99 partnered with the City of Los Angeles, InnerCity Struggle and the Los Angeles Education Partnership to provide over 100 parents with information on preparing their children for college, economic services like rental assistance, immigration services, and finding and preparing for new jobs.
- Local 99 also partnered with St. John’s Wellness Clinic to provide free health screenings to families in South LA and Boyle Heights. We worked with LAUSD to facilitate vision screenings to nearly 800 high school students.
- We worked with the Beyond the Bell program to provide Summer enrichment program to 120 Eastside children, who otherwise would not have had access to free summer enrichment activities.
The OASIS Summer program also generated 20 new classified positions and increased hours for building and grounds workers, clerical workers and site administrators.
Union Strength Pays Off for Member at Pacific Blvd. School
In the summer of 2013, Special Education Assistant Rosalie Tenderlee Salinas applied to work ESY at Pacific Blvd School where she works during the school year. Her school was listed as a Special Education Center in the District’s ESY application.
In our contract, this meant that Rosalie would have priority to fill an available assignment because she was assigned there during the school year. But the District mistakenly gave the available assignment to another employee because they did not follow our contract.
When assigning staff, they wrongly re-categorized Pacific Blvd as a K-12 school, and not a Special Ed Center. The District denied her and another member work thinking that they did not qualify because of the amount of seniority they have with the District. “I got together with my co-worker because we were tired of being on the sidelines,” says Rosalie.
First, she went to her Local 99 Steward who provided information. She then contacted Local 99’s Member Resource Center.
As a result, Rosalie and her co-workers filed a grievance and, in the end, the District recognized its mistake. Rosalie got back 20 days of pay. This past August, she was made whole for all work denied to her last summer. “I’m grateful to have a union,” says Rosalie. “I don’t know if the District would have heard me out by myself … I was happy to have someone have my back. As workers, we have to exercise our rights and not feel intimidated.”
Taking a Stand For All Children
Local 99 Members Join Fight for Immigration Reform
LAUSD has one of the largest populations of immigrant students and SEIU Local 99 members have been taking action to ensure equal opportunities and a quality education for every student.
We joined together with community leaders in a Town Hall on August 27 calling on President Obama to end the deportations that separate children from their parents.
We also spoke out on September 9 in support of an LAUSD School Board Resolution calling on the President to strengthen protections for immigrant children and to enact comprehensive immigration reform policies that will keep families together and protect workers.
“I see myself in the students who attend Hollywood High School,” Local 99 Member and Special Education Assistant Elivira De Santiago told the School Board. “I came to this country from Mexico …I know how difficult it is to learn a new language and a new culture…thanks to education, I was able to overcome many of these challenges. As education workers, it’s our responsibility to open up a pathway for these children.”
School Board Members Say “Thank You”
School Board Members from various Districts, including Board President Dr. Richard Vladovic, Steve Zimmer, and Bennett Kayser from LAUSD, gave a special “thank you” to Local 99 members on September 13 as part of our annual Education Workers Recognition lunch presented by Local 99’s Communications Committee.
The Board Members rolled-up their sleeves and helped serve lunch to union members to show their appreciation for the essential services we provide to students every day. Dr. Vladovic said, “Whether you’re a cafeteria worker, a bus driver, a grounds worker, or a special ed assistant, you help kids, you’re part of the family. You touch the lives of these kids. They look up to you as someone who cares. So all of you at SEIU Local 99, I’m proud to work with you and to know that you care about our kids.”
