Dear Colleagues,
This evening at the School Board meeting the Board in open session voted 5-0 to ratify the contract with the Vista Teachers Association. It is through the efforts of all our members that we were able to come to this contract ratification. Our hard work, organizing efforts and our ability to show our commitment to a fair and reasonable contract allowed us to negotiate what the Executive Board and bargaining team feel is a strong contract. The language we were able to get for protections for our members is unprecedented and the impact will be beneficial for years to come. I want to thank the bargaining team, crisis team and the EBoard for their hard work. It truly is a collaborative endeavor. May your last seven days in school be peaceful and may you enjoy your summer vacation with family and friends.
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Dear Colleagues,
The VTA bargaining team and the District have been working around the clock since Friday, May 9th and have reached a tentative agreement. The VTA Executive Board voted tonight to send the contract to our members for a ratification vote. We will hold informational meetings beginning Wednesday and as soon as we set them up we will inform all of our members. After the meetings we will hold a ratification vote of the contract. The School Board also will need to vote to approve the contract so we would like all members to attend the School Board meeting and urge the Board to approve the contract. Highlights of the Agreement: Salary/ 9.54% over two years, 3.28% retroactive to January 1, 2014, 6.26% effective January 1, 2015. Class size: TK-3 24-1 Grades 6-12 Pre-MOU class sizes Health Benefits: $300 added to the Cap Language for collaboration and Co-Teaching We will give more details in our meetings but wanted you all to know that the Bargaining team and the Executive Board feels this is a fair and reasonable contract and that the conditions we demanded (lower class sizes, protect prep time in elementary and health benefits were met) and we are happy with the Tentative agreement. We do want to thank all of you, our success in bargaining was due to the overwhelming support we had from our members. We are proud to have the strong union of Vista and we are proud to represent all of you. A Message from VTA President, Barbara Franklin:
Dear Colleagues, It is with a sad heart and strong voice that I announce the mediator sent the VTA and VUSD to fact-finding today. The District refuses to move from their "fair Share" that they offered in October. They expect teachers to just give into their request to let them put more funds in their savings account. They refuse to offer VTA a fair and reasonable contract based on the facts and not the misrepresentation and incompetence touted by the CFO, Donna Caperton,Donna has been wrong every year she has worked here by millions of dollars. As a new tactic, VUSD today has blocked all VTA emails going to our members at their sites. Our contract states: The Association shall have the right to use the VUSD internet to communicate information about meetings with its Bargaining Unit Members. This usage shall not include political action." Including an agenda for the upcoming meeting is not political, we do not talk about candidates or elections in the emails yet the District wants to now stop us from communicating with our members. We will send this email to all private emails we have on file. If you have not received messages from VTA please call us or email us your private email address. Send this email to all members at your site or post it on your VTA bulletin board. We will conduct unit member meetings starting this Wednesday and have a strike vote. We will explain what this means and next steps. Please visit our Facebook page as well for updates. We have put in a request to have the meeting Wednesday, May 7th at Temple Heights in their gym and as soon as we get confirmation tomorrow I will email members to let them know. We need every voice heard for the strike vote, come to the meetings and let your voice be heard. In SOLIDARITY!! |
AuthorsVTA President and Bargaining Team: Archives
June 2022
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