FUSD and FUDTA negotiations

An overview of recent negotiation updates

Staff Writer

Toward the end of September, American High School teachers distributed QR codes to encourage support for the Fremont Unified Teachers Association (FUDTA) and its ongoing negotiations. FUSD and FUDTA negotiate contracts regularly, and October’s session marked twenty-two negotiation sessions this year. These sessions review working conditions, class sizes, and budget, but October’s second meeting shifted some union goals due to anticipated budget changes.

One of FUDTA’s goals was to reduce class sizes. The teacher’s union drafted Article 12 of the FUDTA contract regarding class size.

The district claimed, “FUSD believes in the value of small class sizes and strives to achieve the lowest student to specialist ratios, while ensuring essential services and personnel are sustained.” Earlier negotiations discussed compensation for exceeded class sizes, but the recent session revised this. Proposal 12.3.3 of Article 12, states that if the administrator is unable to reduce the class size, the district will compensate affected teachers with $200 per month per student and a pro-rated payment if the teacher works with them part-time. This proposal, however, was eventually rejected due to the financial limitations.

Overall, negotiations focused on adapting union goals to the district’s structural deficit. Issues such as class size become secondary when job security is threatened.

Former FUDTA president, Mr. Bonaccorsi shared, “Our position is supporting Measure M, so we want to make sure that the community passes that. It’s in the district’s interest to settle the other dispute as quickly as they can, so we can all focus on that. We’re less than two weeks away from the election, so FUDTA isn’t so much pivoting, as much as raising to the surface some issues and putting the others in the background. It’s changing the contour of the conversation to make sure that students have counseling services and nurses and librarians..”

FUDTA and FUSD also released the “Initial Sunshine Proposal”, outlining proposals for an ideal academic environment. It reviewed past agreements between both parties to prepare for negotiations. Some of the issues that address student life include revising teachers’ rights to vote on bell schedules and school calendars, reducing the current process of conflict resolution between parents, students, and teachers, adapting the public complaints process, and addressing district multiculturalism.

With regard to the process of negotiations, FUSD and FUDTA have bargaining teams that convene for the union’s contract; these negotiation updates can be found on the district website. Mr. Bonaccorsi shares some insight as to the nature of the contracts. “We’re bargaining for a three-year agreement, the maximum period of time for a contract. But sometimes within that three year window, you have reopeners. A lot of times, you would put salary on a reopener basis. You get an agreement, but then reopen in a year. Those agreements are done later, as the money issue resolves itself. There’s also a series of other kinds of agreements called memorandum understanding, or MOUs, or that can even be called side letters of agreement, that are add ons while the contract is in play.”

Negotiations between FUDTA and FUSD continue, and the decisions being debated are crucial to developing an educational environment that benefits both teachers and students while being sustainable under current fiscal policy. Many of these issues begin to affect Fremont at a larger level, and things like the budget deficit and protecting staff are discussed by the city council, with resources open to the public, online and in-person.

Emphasizing the importance of community engagement, Mr. Bonaccorsi shares, “being visible at a board meeting is something that the board members have to see. They have to address that their decisions actually have consequences, and what they as board members should take in that input, whether a person speaks or not, their sitting there, is important.”