Edhat Staff
The Santa Barbara Teachers Association (SBTA) is currently conducting a strike authorization vote while engaged in contract negotiations with the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SB Unified). The voting period commenced last Friday and is set to conclude this Friday, May 31.
The purpose of the strike authorization vote is to grant the union’s executive board the authority to determine a strike date and subsequently initiate a strike if an agreement cannot be reached with the district.
In an effort to maintain anonymity, the union is conducting double-envelope votes, with each member’s vote enclosed within two envelopes. Designated site representatives from each school are overseeing the voting process, which is being held outside of regular work hours, including mornings, lunchtime, and after school.
The negotiations between the district and the teachers association have revealed a substantial disparity in their contract proposals. SBTA is advocating for a 15% salary increase for the upcoming year and an 8% increase the following year, whereas the district has offered 9% for the upcoming year and 4% for the subsequent year.
“SBTA has done the work, poured over the budgets, showed how students are harmed by a lack of investment in teacher retention, and made a strong case for 15% and 8% [raise]. The last opportunity for the district to settle negotiations is during Fact Finding. If the district does not offer educators a fair settlement on June 12th, the last recourse for educators is a strike. Educators will be voting to authorize a strike. When we fight, we win,” SBTA posted on social media.
Teachers, students, and parents have been actively participating in weekly school board meetings, expressing their support for teachers and a new contract.
This past April, SBUnified announced an agreement could not be reached and the State-appointed mediator allowed both parties to proceed to the next stage of the legally mandated impasse process: fact finding.
The next schedule meeting is June 12, where an impartial third party will facilitate a dialogue between the district and SBTA. If an agreement is not met, the third party will issue a report that would be made public within 30 days.
The current contract ends on June 30 and SBTA has stated they do not plan to decide on a potential strike date until after the report is released.
“Santa Barbara Unified remains committed to finding a solution to our labor negotiations. We are hopeful that the Fact Finding process will help us find a path forward for an agreement,” said SB Unified spokesperson Ed Zuchelli in a statement.
SBTA plans to hold a rally in support of teachers on June 11, one day before the scheduled mediation meeting.
Good for them. It’s ridiculous to expect the teachers not to be prepared, and with the way the district has handled matters so far, the teachers can’t count on any urgency from the higher-ups.
I hope it doesn’t come to a strike, but if it does, it’s 100% the district’s fault. This whole saga is so disappointing.
This is a sad, Machiavellian way to run a district. Maldonado has wrecked havoc on this district . First the mass exodus of the original cabinet except for Bechio. All that institutional knowledge gone and the new cabinet is inexperienced. It is heartbreaking how the teachers are treated. At the end of the day our most vulnerable students continue to suffer and have pathetic scores. It is going to take a long long time to heal from Maldonado’s tenure. So very sad for our students and community.
Agree, but where’s our School Board in all this? They’re silent. They have a lot of power. Choosing not to do anything to help the teachers and most importantly the kids. Remember who NOT to vote for next time around. All the incumbents are culpable, in addition to Hilda.