Hello HTEC Members,
Last night, your Classified Bargaining Team set a personal record: a 13-hour bargaining marathon, beginning with preparation at 8:30 a.m. and concluding bargaining at 9:30 p.m!! While we are all feeling the effects today, we also left the table feeling closer than ever to reaching an agreement.
a tired Classified Bargaining team, taken at 9:30 pm.
Here’s how the day unfolded:
In the morning, the team prepared our counterproposal to HTH’s Friday offer. Recognizing that HTH had made several important concessions, we proposed a 4.31% salary increase for next year across all frameworks, continued to advocate for sick leave accrual more equitable with the certificated unit (1 hour earned for every 19 hours worked), and maintained our push for workload protections in Article 18. We also made the strategic decision to withdraw several lower-priority proposals– including a catastrophic leave bank, self-authorization of overtime, and supervisor-created break schedules– in order to focus our efforts on the issues members have consistently identified as most important: wages, leaves, healthcare, and workload protections.
By the afternoon, we presented and explained our proposals to HTH. Before management began drafting its response, we made it clear that any serious path toward settlement would need to include meaningful progress on workload concerns in Article 18.
As the evening wore on, HTH returned with a new proposal that included the following:
- A three-year agreement with a salary schedule restructuring and incorporated raise for hourly employees, estimated by HTH to cost approximately $270,000 and averaging roughly a 3.13% increase for hourly staff.
- A 2.87% salary increase next year for the remaining frameworks.
- Salary increases tied to the “statutory COLA” in 2027-28 and 2028-29 for all frameworks.
- ACA healthcare eligibility testing after six months of employment rather than after a full year, allowing more variable-hour employees to access healthcare sooner.
- Improved sick leave accrual, increasing from the current rate to 1 hour earned for every 25 hours worked.
- An increase to 64 days of collective union leave—a significant improvement from the current allowance of 2 days for up to 5 members annually!!!
- For the FIRST TIME, a revised Article 18 addressing workloads and support structures for various classified positions!!!
After a long day, we caucused as a team to assess the proposal, identify remaining priorities, and determine what would be needed to reach a final agreement. While there is still work to do, we believe substantial progress was made, and we are closer to settlement than at any point in these negotiations.
Because our current contract expires at the end of June, both parties are working to reach an agreement quickly. We have scheduled one more bargaining session for this Thursday, June 11, the day after the last day of school.
Your Classified Bargaining Team remains committed to securing competitive wages, improved benefits, and fair, sustainable workloads for all classified employees.
Please wear blue on Thursday to show your support for the bargaining team and the priorities we continue to fight for!!
HTH Works Because We Do: Support Staff, Strengthen HTH!
In solidarity,
HTEC Bargaining Team
Faith Hicks – Co-Chair, Occupational Therapist, Mesa Village
Michael DeHut – Co-Chair, Mesa Aftercare
Jocelyn Flores- HTEC Vice President
Analia Garcia- Assistant Site Manager, North County Village
Ana Montes- School Lunch Assistant, HTeX
Francisco Diaz- Lead Cook, HTEats
Robert Morales – Special Education Academic Coach, HTeNC
Reyna Moreno – Day Porter, Chula Vista
Ryan Hayes- IT Systems Manager, North County and Mesa Village
Socorro Castañeda – Custodian, HTHMA
Jen Lewis – HTEC President
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