The last two months of 2023 consisted of an overhaul of negotiations between four major labor partners and the Sacramento City Unified School District, finalizing deliberations on overdue contracts.
The district’s negotiations with its union partners — Service Employees International Union Local 1021, Teamsters Classified Supervisors, Teamsters Local 150 and United Professional Educators — had been contentious under the leadership of previous superintendent Jorge Aguilar. The tumultuous reign culminated in a multi-day strike by the Sacramento City Teachers Association and SEIU Local 1021 in March and April of 2022, and an unceremonious board vote to transition in a new superintendent in June of 2023.
The change in leadership — with interim superintendent Lisa Allen and a renewed school board — has propelled a new era for union contracts.
All of these contract updates included the minimum cost of living adjustment mandated by the state of 8.22%. Jasjit Singh, vice president of the Sacramento City Unified School Board, said they were prepared for the 2023-24 budget to absorb the cost of retroactive raises due to the delayed negotiations of the 2022-23 contracts.
“It was a no-brainer that we had to give raises. You have to compare yourself to neighboring districts,” Singh said. “Whether it's our administrators, our teachers, our custodial staff or bus drivers, that not only can we maintain our staff but hopefully, we can also start putting a dent in the recruitment piece.”
The district is tasked with filling 162 vacancies — a number that has been hard to reduce because of the competitive salaries in neighboring districts, said Singh.
Here’s a look at where things stand with each of the four unions going into 2024:
Service Employees International Union Local 1021
On Nov.14, SEIU Local 1021 and the district agreed to a “historic” pay raise, which included a retroactive change from $15 to $18 an hour minimum wage for members beginning July 1, 2022, and an increase to $20 an hour starting July 1, 2024.
SEIU Local 1021 represents 1,800 members who work on school sites as instructional aides, custodians, bus drivers, school service workers and more.
Karla Faucett, SEIU Local 1021 chapter president, said bargaining went better this year because district staff, who were pertinent to the topic, were present for the meeting and decisions were made at an accelerated pace under Allen’s direction.
“It was more one-on-one levels of them actually listening,” said Faucett. “They understood our pain. There was not anybody that did not believe that we were all at poverty level.”
Faucett recalled the hardships union members were facing, and said she described the conditions to those at the bargaining table.
“I know an office technician that lived in a car with their little girl,” said Faucett about how the district’s wages were not a livable amount. She further negotiated for items that should have been provided as part of the work.
Faucett described scenarios in which appropriate clothing limited the ability to work effectively. In one instance she said food service workers were “sharing one jacket to go into big freezers and the coat could be three sizes too small or six sizes too big.”
There will also be a 10% ongoing salary increase for all SEIU Local 1021 members retroactive to July 1, 2022, and an additional 6% ongoing salary increase for job classifications identified as difficult to fill and retain. Faucett said this would impact 70% of the union's members, an unprecedented number.
This agreement was reached amid concerns brought up during the Dec. 14 school board meeting about the district’s cash reserves potentially being limited in two years.
Singh said he remains unbothered. “Budgets change all the time. End of the day, we have a positive report from the county,” he said.
The two parties have also pledged to reach a two-year successor contract on compensation by May 31. Faucett positions professional development days as major agenda item for this year, arguing that teachers have been offered three days as part of their new contract.
She contends the notion that classified staff, or those paid hourly, are not interested in upward mobility.
“You can [go] from a custodian to a supervisor, but we need to have ongoing classes that will provide that — to be able to do more than be at the bottom level of the pay scale.”
She remains optimistic that open communication will be the cornerstone of their work at the bargaining table in the new year.
United Professional Educators
UPE, which represents principals, assistant principals and instructional and student support certificated professionals, reached a consensus on Dec.15.
The district and the UPE agreed to a 10% salary increase for all members retroactive to July 1, 2022 with a supplemental 6% salary increase for all principals and assistant principals. They will pursue a new three-year successor contract this year.
This was an increase to some of the highest-paying starting salaries in the district, which begin at $96,000 a year for a high school assistant principal and $115,000 a year for a high school principal. In comparison, a teacher with a Bachelor’s degree starts at $55,000 a year.
Singh advocates that to reduce the attrition of principals to districts like Elk Grove — where a high school principal starts at $130,000 a year — the district’s salary must be competitive.
“We have some of the lowest paid principals in the region and half of them are new to recruit and maintain,” Singh said “I have to look at offering them salary increases and to make sure that they also feel valued for the work that they do.”
Yet, most vacant positions in the district lie outside of the principal and assistant principal categories.
“I don't want there to be this parity between teachers versus administrators. Retroactive pay raise increases were going to happen for every single group from an equity standpoint,” said Singh. “Everybody is a part of making sure the district is running and it's not only the teachers.”
Teamsters Local 150 and Teamsters Classified Supervisors
One of the last contracts to be discussed was with Teamsters Local 150 and TCS who represent the plant operations and the supervision of nutrition services, electrical, mechanical, carpentry and maintenance work.
Like the agreement reached between the district and SEIU Local 1021, Teamsters Local 150 and TCS revised their contracts for adjusted salaries that account for the higher cost of living – a 10% ongoing salary increase for all Teamsters Local 150 and TCS members, retroactive to July 1, 2022, and an extra 6% salary increase to support the recruitment and retention of specific job classifications.
A Teamsters Local 150 spokesperson declined to comment on the contract negotiations.
Sacramento City Teachers Association
Several conversations took place with the SCTA, the last being in August when the district and the union put out a joint statement on their renewed contract.
Teachers were similarly given a 10% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2022, and 6% salary increase for those educators who provide critical services to our students such as special education teachers, education audiologists and school nurses.
At the last board meeting of the year, Nikki Milevsky, president of the SCTA, reported on the status of the re-opened negotiations of the 2022-23 contract. The district and the union have reached a tentative agreement on teacher transfer requests, but have two items they plan to resolve by Jan. 24 — staffing and wages.
Using a data forward method, the district, the union and Sacramento State University have partnered together to survey educators in the district.
“One preview of the findings that's reflected in our bargaining proposals is that while staff are hopeful, they are also finding the challenging working conditions —which include larger class sizes and increased caseloads for staff and special education — to be a deterrent to coming here and staying in our district and that needs to be addressed together,” said Milevsky.
Milevksy noted that the effort is to recruit and retain a diverse staff that reflects the diversity in the classroom.
Singh said he is on board with more informed decision-making for the district and wants to build “supportive, inclusive and equitable spaces” for every person contributing to the school system.
“If we fall into the trap of saying ‘salary is everything,’ we'll keep doing salary raises, but will that necessarily lead to better student outcomes?” Singh asked. “ Salary raises should happen because people deserve to be paid a fair wage. It should not be the only recruiting tool to get good folks into our district.”
The end of last year marked the finalization of almost all the 2022-23 labor partner contracts, and the new year brings with it a season of new arbitrations on 2023-24 contracts and more.
Srishti Prabha is an education reporter and Report For America corps member in collaboration with CapRadio and The Sacramento Observer. Their focus is K-12 education in Sacramento’s Black communities.
