History:
In spring of 2007, CWA Local 9510 was contacted by a number of Santa Ana Unified School District substitute teachers with a view to organizing them. CWA contacted the District and initially found them to be cooperative. SAUSD sent a mailer to the substitutes on CWA’s behalf and provided the union with contact information for these teachers.
In November 2007, Janine Munson, CWA District 9 Staff Representative approached the Santa Ana Educators’ Association. Ms Munson spoke with then President, Dr. David Barton to enquire if SAEA had any interest in representing substitute teachers. He specifically stated that SAEA was not interested in representing this unit.
CWA thus began its campaign; and on June 20, 2008, PERB determined a majority of show of interest cards had been collected from substitutes.
On July 31, 2008 the District filed a decision refuting the appropriateness of the claimed unit. The District refused to voluntarily recognize CWA because “the proposed classification of substitute teachers shares a community of interest with the teachers in the District and the teachers are already represented by SAEA.”
On October 16, 2008, after reviewing the District’s July 31 decision, PERB ordered the District show cause why CWA should not be recognized as the exclusive representative of the proposed unit of substitute teachers. On November 7, 2008, the District filed a response to this Order to Show Cause and on November 10, 2008, CWA filed a reply to the District’s November 7 response.
On November 26, 2008, PERB certified CWA as the exclusive representative of the SAUSD substitute teachers.
SAUSD appealed this decision to PERB in Sacramento, but were ultimately unsuccessful. In the summer of 2010, CWA started the Sunshine Letter process sending the letter to the District through their attorneys on August 3, 2010.
Negotiations finally started on December 10, 2010. During this time CWA has bargained in good faith and has requested on multiple occasions an updated mailing list so we can contact the substitutes. They provided us with one previously in 2007, but this is now hopelessly out of date, due to the high turnover of substitutes.
Negotiations reached an impasse on April 2, 2013 it was mutually agreed to seek mediation.
On September 12, 2013, CWA Local 9510 and SAUSD met in mediation session with a PERB mediator. As a result of the mediation process CWA Local 9510 and SAUSD have reached a tentative agreement after nearly three years of bargaining. The agreement contains in part:
1. Guaranteed wage reopeners in the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 school years.
2. A guaranteed interview for substitute teachers who have worked 60 days or more in the previous two years for public posted teaching assignments.
3. The ability to dispute and comment on any derogatory information in a substitute’s personnel file.
4. Health and safety language that includes a Safety Committee consisting of substitute teachers, the union and the District.
5. A two step grievance procedure that will compel the District to meet.
This FIRST contract is just a start. As many of you may be aware, there are no other substitute teachers in Orange County who have union representation. All are currently “at-will” employees. If you choose to ratify this contract CWA Local 9510 will begin to represent you immediately.
It should be noted that across the whole employment spectrum union represented employees enjoy far greater benefits than their non-union counterparts. However, these things don’t happen overnight and this contract is a good start. CWA Local 9510 has already started toward bringing subs closer to the benefits and wages that regular teachers have enjoyed for years. To help further this goal, we have put before the California Labor Federation a proposal that subs receive a fairer percentage of a regular teacher’s wage than they currently do.
When working people stand together to bargain fair wages and decent benefits, California’s middle class grows stronger. Remember, the great American middle class wasn’t something that just happened all by itself. It was built, brick by brick, by the hard work of our parents and grandparents and the unions that represented them, which created the forty hour week, paid vacations, paid sick days and fair wages.
In closing, we are committed to improving the wages and work conditions for substitute teachers in Santa Ana. Please allow us to represent you!
In unity,
Kenny Williams
CWA Local 9510 Executive Board Member
**Please continue to check our Facebook page, CWA Local 9510 and our website CWA9510.org for all substitute teacher news and updates.**
