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The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees, superintendent, executive cabinet, California School Employees Association and district staff are all scheduled to undergo interest-based bargaining training on Wednesday morning.
According to the special agenda item, the California Public Employment Relations Board will be providing the bargaining training. The board is a quasi-judicial agency charged with administering the collective bargaining statutes covering public school, college and university employees.
“(Interest-based bargaining) is a bargaining process that focuses on the interests of both parties in order to create mutually-beneficial settlements,” according to the agenda report. The IBB process provides a unique approach to resolving contract negotiations and other issues that arise in labor-management relationships.”
The training will take place just a month after PUSD and Association of Pleasanton Teachers signed a memorandum of understanding that both sides say signifies a successful start to next year’s labor negotiations.
The memorandum, which enables teachers to continue to access Family and Medical Leave Act benefits, has also led to a positive “interest-based” approach to the negotiations process.
Also, last May the district approved a new collective bargaining agreement between the district and the teachers association that included a 3.25% salary increase and new health benefits.
The tentative agreement covers the next three academic years, with a one-year settlement for the 2022-23 portion of the agreement and health benefits for employees in line with CalPERS health benefits — a maximum of $5,000 including all CalPERS-required contributions.
The entire contract is open for negotiations every three years.
Apart from clarifying the language in their contract regarding calculating time off for personal or medical reasons, the teachers association also sunshined the article in the contract regarding class sizes and caseloads for negotiations during the 2023-24 school year.
The association is now waiting for the district to sunshine their article in the joint contract, which will occur during the Jan. 19 school board meeting. Negotiations will then be set to start shortly after that meeting but as of now, there are no set dates.
The special meeting is set to start at 9 a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 11). Access the agenda here.
