Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1515721
WHAT THEY WON UESF's Big Bargaining Team won a tentative two-year agreement on Oct. 20 at 6 a.m. after a 13-hour marathon bargaining session. Approved by 86% of UESF members, highlights of the contract include: • All ESPs will earn a minimum salary of $30 an hour in the first year of the contract (with ESPs earning more than that receiving an 8% raise), and a 5% pay increase in the second year. • ESPs will now receive percentage longevity pay increases at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years. • The average pay increase for ESPs is 39% (or $10.37 per hour) • Certificated educators will receive a $9,000 on-schedule pay increase the first year and a 5% raise the second year. The average increase to annual salary for certificated educators for this agreement is 19.4%. • Substitute educators: The first-year sub rate is $316 per day with an additional 5% in the second year, while 160-day QTEA (Quality Teacher & Education Act) subs will receive $80 more per day. • New contractual community schools language, including a districtwide steering committee and a requirement for a community school coordinator. • Won gains that will help all UESF members deal with inflation and the cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area while also helping to recruit and retain the educators desperately needed to stabilize their schools. • Additional wins include gains for fully staffed schools, improved working conditions, student support, protections from poor management decisions (such as with payroll, benefits and retirement), and special education. UESF members were committed to each other and ready to fight for better, authorizing a strike with a 97% vote. " It's exciting to see moving forward how we can retain staff. We fought for the schools our students deserve and this is a chance to see it." — Emily Patterson, special education content specialist "When we say solidarity or equity, our actions match our words," Curiel says. "Our work is easier when we have fully staffed schools. Stable schools mean bet- ter working conditions, for all of us." Tina Leung, a bilingual speech lan- guage pathologist, says it was powerful for the team to build their proposals together and gain an understanding of how it would impact all members. ey were deliberately transparent and com- municated the goals of the bargain to empower members to fight and win. And when the union made these proposals to the district, UESF members gave testi- mony and told their stories to humanize the proposals, bringing organizing to the bargaining table. " S o th e di strict 's f irst en ga gem ent with our proposals was with the stories from members," Curiel says. "It's about us every day — not the contract language on paper." Winning the information battle early was key to building power, which was in full display when UESF members voted to authorize a strike with 97% approval (see sidebar). Bargaining team members said it was transformative how much UESF's strength grew in only a year. "And it was all very intentional growth," says sp ecial education para educator Diana Mueller. " We were meeting and building power at our worksites and get- ting everyone involved. Our victory was a culmination of that work." 33 F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 24