Negotiation has sticking point
Morgan Hill – Nearly 100 Morgan Hill Unified School District classified employees packed the district’s board room Tuesday night to protest what they say is an inadequate compensation package.
The protesters, wearing bright purple shirts with the SEIU acronym emblazoned on them, and toting signs to protest the district’s latest salary offer, said the district’s latest offer is “a slap in the face.”
The 303 classified employees, who fill a variety of positions including landscapers, mechanics, bus drivers, kitchen workers, custodians, administrative assistants, clerks and teachers’ aides, are demanding a total compensation package comparable to what was negotiated with the teaching staff for the 2006-07 school year.
The employees claim what the district is offering them equates to a 2 percent salary increase, a 3 percent increase in health care benefits and an extra 1 percent to work for two more days on top of their regular schedule.
Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini said each extra workday costs the district .5 percent salary increase.
District Superintendent Alan Nishino calls the latest contract on the table “a good offer.” The compensation package the district is offering is 6 percent, he said, and classified workers’ health insurance benefits will increase from $5,022 to $6,300 this year and to $7,200 next year.
SEIU Local 715 Chair Pam Torrisi said the union and the district will sit down together one more time, next week, and if there is still no negotiated agreement, they will go to mediation because the union has a no strike clause.
“If we have to go to mediation, then we lay it all out on the table, this person looks at all the data, and it’s not left up to us or to the district anymore,” she said.
Torrisi said while the total compensation package is 6 percent, the package can’t be compared to what the teachers received, which was a 5 percent increase in salary plus an adjustment to their medical.
“We realize they gave things up to do that,” she said. “If you look the 3 percent in salary they’re offering us, it’s actually a 2 percent increase because there is a 1 percent increase to work two additional days. So we’re giving up something, too.”
Nishino also received a 5 percent increase in salary, she added. The superintendent makes more than $212,000 a year.
“Almost half of our membership does not take the medical, so those people would only get the 3 percent raise … How can you tell almost half your unit, look, we took this deal, and you’ll only be getting a 3 percent raise and you’ll be working two more days,” Torrisi said.
Teachers voiced their support for their classified co-workers during Tuesday’s protest. El Toro Elementary’s Jackie Lee reminded School Board Trustee Kathy Sullivan that she had said, during board discussions of a raise in Nishino’s salary, that a 2 percent increase would be a “slap in the face” to Nishino.
“Well, a 2 percent offer is a slap in the face to these hardworking people; they deserve more from Morgan Hill Unified,” Lee said.
Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers President Donna Foster said while the teachers negotiated a fair contract, the large turnout of SEIU members suggests a “breakdown in communication and respect.”
“I stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters of SEIU; I hope my comments can be heard, both across the room and across community,” Foster said. “You have goals, and one of those is to respect employees. Everyday in your actions you are striving to meet that goal. I think an important component of respect is listening, it is understanding working conditions, living wages and communications.”
Foster said the teachers negotiated their salary package with some compromises, including longer working conditions.
“But the critical factor is that 1 percent of a teacher’s salary – and therefore compensation for all teachers – is vastly greater than 1 percent of a classified person’s salary,” she added.
Torrisi, who told trustees during their Sept. 12 board meeting that the offer on the table from the district was “unpalatable” and would not be accepted, said she had nothing to add.
“I’m not saying anything I haven’t said before; Thank you for those of you who wore purple … Thank you all of the teachers who, by speaking, have shown support and have been supportive every day that we’ve been negotiating,” Torrisi said.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
