Gustine Unified School District (GUSD) and its local California School Employer Association (CSEA) chapter have begun negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the district announced during a board meeting on Tuesday.
The CSEA chapter's current bargaining agreement is set to end in June 2023, which opens up a new agreement to be signed before the 2025-2026 school year. The term for the current agreement started on June 1, 2022.
According to the meeting’s agenda, Gustine’s CSEA chapter proposed changes to the following articles in its agreement:
● Promotion, specifically Article 7.5
● Health and Welfare
● CBA’s Duration
● Salary
The CSEA chapter also requested a new article surrounding the use of technology/AI to be added to the upcoming agreement. The chapter hopes that adding this new article can help protect CSEA’s work with recent technological advancements.
Article 7.5 of the document states that all bargaining unit applicants can be interviewed for a promotion. The document also mentioned that the most senior bargaining unit member can receive a possible promotion.
GUSD responded with an initial proposal focusing on two of the four article changes that the CSEA’s chapter requested, salary and health welfare. The district also proposed changes to articles surrounding working conditions and leaves.
Bryan Ballenger, GUSD’s Superintendent, stated in an email to the Westside Connect that the two parties involved in the negotiations can choose up to two articles to discuss in addition to salary and benefits.
The Connect contacted Helen Encinas, the president of Gustine’s CSEA, for a possible comment. Encinas then directed the Connect to contact Gustine Unified’s Labor Relations Representative, Adam Uplinger, about the ongoing matter. The Connect reached out to Uplinger and has yet to receive a comment.
The current agreement has seen multiple changes during its term, with three that went into effect in July 2024.
A 2% salary increase went into effect in July 2024 after a 7% increase the previous year. There was a $500 increase to GUSD’s contribution towards health benefits, which went into effect in October 2023.
Another change was the language mentioned in the article about leaves within the document. According to the current CBA document, classified employees are entitled to one day’s leave with full pay for each month of an employee’s service for an injury or personal illness. Any unused leaves will accumulate from year to year.
The current agreement’s health and welfare article mentions that part-time employees who were hired after March 10, 2004, and worked at least six hours a day, five days per week and 10 months a year would receive a contribution from the district towards benefits for part-time employees. Full-time employees could receive up to $14,500 per year for the cost of health and welfare benefits.
The third change that was implemented in July 2024 was forming a committee that will revise the evaluation forms to include criteria that would apply to a unit member's job classification.
Ballenger stated in the email that he believes both parties will reach a new agreement by the end of this school year, but emphasized that it depends on how negotiations will work.
“It is too early to tell, but I would suspect that we will be able to reach an agreement by the end of this school year. But again, that will depend on the positions of both parties,” Ballenger wrote.
Navtej Hundal is a freelance journalist in Stanislaus County.
