By now you have probably read or heard about the importance of protecting ourselves against a likely state trusteeship by securing a contract as soon as possible. Many of you are asking how exactly a contract, also known as a collective bargaining agreement or CBA, will protect us from possible budget cuts, furloughs or layoffs. Here is how that all works.

“I rely on my paycheck and think we should do everything we can to protect our jobs. I want the security of a contract if our district gets taken over by the State.”

Jermaine Brown, Campus Security Monitor

Years of mismanagement and corruption in Stockton Unified School District, including the disappearance of $100 million, has the district struggling to pay invoices for even basic essentials. The district is likely to seek a loan for financial relief, which will then trigger a state trusteeship that is overseen by a state-appointed trustee.

How would a state trusteeship of SUSD be dangerous for CSEA members?

A state trustee would have the power to rescind prior financial decisions by the SUSD Board that could affect wages, hours and even layoffs of CSEA Chapter 821 members.

Because our old collective bargaining agreement expired on June 30, 2022, we do not have a valid contract. The district can also argue that they met their obligation to negotiate when they entered into the agreement that did not pass ratification in May, which puts us in an even weaker position.

Because of our expired contract and failure to ratify the recent agreement, a trustee could more easily propose and impose changes to the terms and conditions of any article in our collective bargaining agreement, including cuts that would impact our wages, hours and jobs.

How would a new contract give us more protection against any cuts?

Your expired CSEA collective bargaining agreement has language embedded within it that would provide a defense against proposed cuts by a state trustee. This language would be included in any new agreement we make with the district. Some of the economic and protective articles of our old CBA are:

If we secure a new term, all the articles in the contract, not just the ones identified above, would be subject to the contract’s grievance procedure, which includes binding arbitration, and would be recognized as an enforceable written agreement by the Educational Employment Relations Act. This provides an immensely stronger foundation to fight back against potential cuts that could impact our wages, hours and jobs.

Your CSEA bargaining team is doing everything it can to protect the paychecks and jobs of Chapter 821 members. Securing a new collective bargaining agreement is our top priority. Our next bargaining date is June 13th.

For any questions, please contact Chapter Administrator Rosemarie Lopes-Horn at delta821administrator@csea.com