Despite the state's sagging economy, CTA chapters throughout the state continue to negotiate healthy raises for their members while preserving, or even increasing, their benefits package.
While there is the occasional double-digit salary being negotiated, most of the settlements currently being reported include salary increases ranging from 3 to 5 percent - not a bad showing at a time when the governor has called for state budget cuts.
At the same time, chapters have been able to hold the line on health insurance, convincing districts to continue paying for benefits.
The Hermosa Beach Educators Association, for example, achieved a 3.63 percent across-the-board wage increase while the district assumed a 12 percent increase in health and welfare benefits.
The Los Nietos Teachers Association in Los Angeles County ratified a 4 percent salary increase retroactive to Sept. 1. The settlement includes extra duty pay, an increased contribution to the health benefits pool by $70,000 and a special education stipend of $2,000.
The Fountain Valley Education Association bargained a 4.5 percent raise for 2001-02, while increasing the insurance cap to $6,000.
The San Lorenzo Education Association in the San Francisco Bay Area negotiated a 2.46 percent increase beginning mid-year with a 0.27 percent increase in benefits. Salaries for adult school teachers there also increased by 3.87 percent.
"We are in a more difficult situation than last year when chapters were able to negotiate double-digit salaries," says CTA President Wayne Johnson. "But we are also reminding our members that the funding is there for some fair settlements. Don't let districts tell you any differently."
Health benefits are a concern for negotiators who are playing hardball at the bargaining table - and they will continue to be a challenge, according to CTA's Negotiations and Organizational Development (NOD) Department, which is offering special multi-day training on negotiating health benefits.
Some CTA chapters may consider joining a trust, a joint management labor cooperative effort that buys health benefits at a reasonable cost. CTA has assigned a staff member in its Risk Management and Membership Benefits Department to help chapters in this endeavor. Chapters considering such an option should call their primary contact staff.
While the contracts that have been reported show decent settlements, CTA's seasoned bargaining specialists are anticipating tough times for chapters who have not yet settled.
"Where there have been settlements, they've been good, but there are a lot of districts that have not yet settled," says Kelly Horner, CTA assistant executive director who oversees the NOD Department. "We are seeing a lot of impasses and we are expecting more."
To further assist chapters in negotiations, the NOD Department has developed a new tool, the Salary Cost Analysis Template, that is expected to offer a fast and easy way to calculate the costs of salary schedules; the effect of adding steps; the effect of special monetary infusions like state money for beginning salaries; the effect of daily or hourly rates to conduct comparability studies; and criteria for determining the costs of certain schedules. The program allows salary data from state J-90 reports to be easily downloaded into the template for each district.
Although negotiating teams will surely welcome any additional support that is available, veterans who continue to procure decent salary and benefit packages for their members say there isn't a difference in negotiating in bad times versus good. Negotiating teams must go to the bargaining table with a plan before they begin talks, and part of that plan includes organizing.
"If you have a plan, you can still make something happen," says CTA staff member Joe Boyd, who assisted members in achieving a number of decent settlements in the Los Angeles area.
"But you have to do your homework."
Dale Martin
