August 22 , 2007 Volume 12, Issue 1

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

Welcome back to the 2007-2008 school year! Hope everyone had a great summer and an opportunity to rest and learn. The school year has begun and the usual beginning-of-the-year issues have been brought to our attention, including overcrowded classes, additional school service duties and whether or not mandatory staff meetings can be called during days identified as teacher work - day in the calendar. Our contract with the PVUSD specifies a process for addressing overcrowded classes and already sites are putting their committees together to address any overcrowded classes. If you feel your site has increased the number of School Service Duties, without consultation with the teachers as specified in our contract, let your Building rep and Vice President know. We will try to address the issue promptly. As far as having mandatory meetings during the teacher work - day, I have presented the issue to Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Dorma Baker and should have clarification by the end of the week.

You may have received an email from Associate Superintendent of Finance Mary Hart over the summer that stated: “As of now, PVUSD benefits are running a deficit of over $1.3 million for next year. The benefits encroachment for the two prior years has been approximately $2 million per year. Over the next three-year period this comes to $5.3 million in excess of what has been budgeted.” We want to assure you that no decisions will be made regarding benefits with out consultation with our membership. Be sure to read the negotiations update on this issue.

If you’ve had to pay full price for your prescriptions over the summer, there is a reimbursement form you need to complete. Contact Maria Burnett at benefits for more information. She can be reached at maria_burnett@pvusd.net or by phone 831-786-2317. Also, if you have been charged a co-pay amount for Diabetic Test Strips since July 1, 2007 contact Maria Burnett at maria_burnett@pvusd.net and let her know. Express Scripts will be issuing refunds for those charges.

A big thanks to everyone who attended the Townhouse meeting with Sam Farr on Monday August 20, it was clear that the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a big issue for our district. The AFT position on the reauthorization of NCLB was heard loud and clear. For more information regarding the AFT recommendations on the reauthorization of NCLB, please visit http://www.letsgetitright.org.

Finally, we want to invite you to sign up to receive electronic updates and Action Alerts through the PVFT e-Community. You can sign up at the following site: http://www.unionvoice.org/pvftcope/home.html You can also access this site through our website www.pvft.net Hope you all have a great year and we look forward to working with you!

Inside the Labor Movement

August 12, 2007 report
By Sarah Ringler PVFT delegate and Secretary-Treasurer MBCLC

Monterey Bay Central Labor Council
PVFT 1936 is connected to the local union movement through the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council. About 60 local unions made up of about 25,000 members are represented through the council and work together to keep unions strong and help all working people from Davenport in the north to King City in the south.

Most recently, area unions united to stop the Santa Cruz City Council from approving the renovation and building of the La Bahia boutique hotel across from the Boardwalk. Unions want a promise from Barry Swenson and the Seaside Company that it will respect card check neutrality and staff the hotel with union employees. The city council had indicated that it was going to approve the project without those guarantees until unions got active through attendance at the city council meeting, visits with local council members and emails. The fight for decent paying jobs with benefits is not over yet as the building project is still under consideration. If you are interested in hearing about future solidarity actions please go to www.montereybaylabor.org/ and click “Get Involved”. You will also find there a list of union staffed businesses and products that are union made.

You are invited to the annual MBCLC Labor Day Picnic, noon to 4 pm, at Delaveaga Park on Labor Day, Sept. 3. Come and hang out with our local group of union officials, members and activists to eat barbecue and celebrate our day. Sam Farr and John Laird are scheduled to attend. Bring the family. PVFT has already bought the tickets. Call Ann at the union office for your tickets. If you would like to be part of the PVFT volunteer team that sets up, serves or cleans up, call me at 420-0450.

US Labor Against the War
US Labor Against the War was founded in January 2003 prior to the beginning of the Iraq War, by more than 200 delegates at a convention in Chicago. PVFT was there. Later , the PVFT general membership after a rigorous debate voted to affiliate and we continue to be part of USLAW to this day.

USLAW has proposed a resolution for PVFT to consider that involves the following:

• ª Support and endorse an October 27 antiwar demonstration in San Francisco that has been already endorsed by 6 labor councils in the Bay Area including MBCLC.
• Support and endorse monthly Iraq Moratorium activities that will begin on September 21 and will continue every month on the 3rd Friday until the war ends. These activities include encouraging members to wear black armbands and other antiwar insignias on those days.
  

Please weigh in with your executive council and site reps about this resolution. The proposed vote would be held at the September 10th general meeting. The most active USLAWaffiliate in our area is Central Coast Workers Against the War who currently sponsored two Iraqi unionists to come and speak in our area. If you want to get involved, contact Rob Weil workagainstwar@yahoo.com. For more information about USLAW, you can check <uslaboragainstwar.org>.

You can also contact me at 420-0450 or at sring@cruzio.com with any questions or comments.

Upcoming Dates

• September 3, 2007 is Monterey Bay Central Labor Council’s Annual Labor Day Picnic at Delaveaga Park from Noon to 4:00pm.  Tickets are available at the Union Office, call 722-2331
• September 10, 2007:  2007’s First General Membership Meeting will be held at the Board Room at the District office at 4:30pm.  If you are interested in being part of or finding out information on PVFT’s COPE Committee (Committee on Political Education) come at 4:00pm.

Negotiations Update—August 2007

Welcome back!    We hope your summer was both relaxing and rejuvenating.  It appears that our State Assembly & Senate took the summer off, too.  The California Legislature finally approved a budget and sent it to the Governor this week.  Unfortunately, California politics appear to be “business as usual.”  California Boards of Education will remain at a standstill when it comes to allocating funds until the Governor signs the budget.  The PVFT Negotiations Team always stays up-to-date on both the District and State budget.  As information becomes available in the coming weeks and months, we’ll be updating the membership as to potential changes (both positive and negative) in the PVUSD budget.

Something that has not changed due to the tardy state budget is the increasing cost of healthcare throughout the country.  The letter Mary Hart sent in June stated that the District predicts our health care costs will eclipse what was budgeted.  This has been happening each year for the last few school years.  While that may be the case, remember this:  There can be NO benefits changes made until the District brings them to the negotiations table.  The District has not formally done so.  In addition, any proposed changes to the collective bargaining agreement (including benefits) must be ratified by the membership.  The Negotiations Team remains committed to the goal of protecting our high quality benefits and increasing our salaries for all members.   We look forward to a successful and energizing 2007-2008 school year!

In The News...

Over the Summer a couple of our PVUSD Teachers had some great articles printed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.  For more information or to read these articles, check out the links below

• Claudia Ayers, teacher at Aptos High; A teachers thoughts as another testing season rolls by 
• Lucia Villarreal, a PVUSD teacher; ‘Underperformers’ are undertreated at PVUSD 
• Johnnie Wilson, a PVUSD teacher; Blinded by the light 
  

PVFT’s Website

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