District insists offer is fair, officials say union members not
telling whole story about latest offer
Morgan Hill – Claims by Morgan Hill School District classified workers that they earn less than other workers in the area are valid, though all 55 positions in the district were not compared to similar positions in other districts.
Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have been protesting the district’s last contract offer, which they describe as “unfair,” and negotiations have reached an impasse.
According to the Web site for the California School Employees Association, wages for two of three positions compared to others in the state are lower than more than half of other districts in the state; Morgan Hill Unified School District’s wages for the third position compared are slightly higher than just over half of the districts in the state.
“If you look at comparisons across the state, wages for Morgan Hill positions are significantly below those in other districts,” said SEIU researcher Eric Schwimmer.
For example, the CSEA lists the starting hourly wage for a food service worker as $9.61 in Morgan Hill, compared to $11.55 in Gilroy and $10.01 in San Jose Unified.
A clerk typist in Morgan Hill has a starting hourly rate of $11.17, compared to $11.30 in Gilroy and $14.23 in San Jose; the starting salary in Gilroy is the same.
SEIU Chair Pam Torrisi said union members are simply asking for the same salary increase that the teachers and Superintendent Alan Nishino received – 5 percent.
The district has offered 8 percent total compensation over a two year period, which includes a 4 percent salary increase for this school year, with the provision that union members will work an additional day, and a 2 percent increase in benefits; for next year, the benefits would be increased by 2 percent, employees would work two additional days, and a salary increase could be negotiated, Nishino said.
“This is not fair; we teach a child how to share and they understand what that is, they know when it’s fair and when it’s not,” Torrisi told school board trustees during the Oct. 24 board meeting.
She added that Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, commented on the district’s labor dispute, saying that “the money is there to support a fair raise for classified employees.”
Nishino said he stands by statements that the district’s offer is fair. He said that allegations that he lied during a television interview about the protests are untrue. He told KTVU television that the union had been offered a 5 percent salary increase, and they refused.
“That is true,” he said. “At the beginning of negotiations, we offered them a 5 percent increase, any way they wanted to spend it. That’s what the teacher’s got, plus .5 percent for an extra day of work. That’s what I got. That’s what we said, ‘Here’s the money, how do you want to take it.”
Torrisi said that many union members had forgotten that the district offered 5 percent originally.
“We were offered that, but it did not include any of the benefits that MHFT and MHELA (Morgan Hill Educational Leaders Association) got,” she said.
Nishino said the reason the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers have a benefits increase outside their 5 percent salary increase is that the union accepted a three-year proposal last year that the SEIU turned down. He said teachers “paid” their raise because students were added to classes at the high school level, some department chair positions were taken away, and teachers gave away their cash back option.
SEIU members were not offered the benefits package last year, Torrisi said.
“We were not given that option; we were told, 2 percent do what you want. We were not told it could be a part of three-year package. We were not given that option. It’s just par for the course.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
