Collective bargaining is a procedure, regulated by law, for negotiating an employment contract between a school district and employee representatives. Depending on the relationship between the district and its unions, the process can be cooperative or adversarial but is typically somewhere in between.

Collective bargaining agreements affect spending decisions

The bulk of every school district's expenditures are tied up in personnel. As a result, collective bargaining agreements can have a dramatic impact on a district's budget, both in current and future years. Contract provisions have both obvious and subtle effects on a district's ability to align its expenditures with its priorities. An increase in salary and benefits is just one facet of that.

Another significant factor is a district's salary schedule. Most districts determine the salary level for their teachers and the majority of other employees based on a schedule that includes "steps" for years of service in the district and "columns" for the amount of education or training employees receive. Staff seniority usually has the greatest influence on average salaries and thus on the percentage of the budget spent for personnel. In general, the base salary of most senior teachers is about twice as much as new teachers.

The structure of the salary schedule and the amount of any salary increase both have predictable multiyear cost implications. Another significant cost is employee benefits including paid vacations and holidays, sick leave, health care, life insurance, and retirement plans. The state requires some of these, such as retirement and workers' compensation. And virtually every district in the state provides some of the other employee benefits voluntarily. Districts vary substantially, however, in the amount they spend, the manner in which they structure those benefits, and the extent to which they expect employees to share the cost. All of these things must be negotiated. Controlling the cost of benefits can be crucial for a district's financial health. Many districts use a benefits cap for this purpose, agreeing in the employee contract to pay a set maximum per employee.

The contract provision with the next greatest financial impact is arguably class size because it relates so directly to how many teachers the district must employ. Other things such as retiree benefits, hours of employment, preparation periods, leave policies, safety measures, and the timing of pay adjustments can also have a substantial impact on a district's bottom line.

Although union negotiations are almost always done in private, the public must be given the opportunity at a public meeting to comment on proposals before negotiations start and on the final agreement before the school board adopts it. Union proposals and district responses, the salary schedule, and the collective bargaining agreement are public documents. Further, with the passage of a new state law in 2004, the district superintendent and chief business official are now required to certify in writing that the costs incurred by the district under a proposed collective bargaining agreement can be met during the term of the agreement. It is critical to a district's long-term fiscal health that the multiyear impact of any collective bargaining agreement be analyzed before it is officially adopted.

Under state law, employee contracts must be renegotiated at least every three years. Some districts negotiate salary and benefits annually, while others commit to multiyear compensation agreements.

Collective bargaining history and laws

Success with collective bargaining in the private sector led to passage of the 1965 Winton Act, which required districts and teachers to “meet and confer” on subjects of mutual interest. Ultimate authority, however, still rested with the local school board.

Senate Bill 160 (Rodda)

This law established collective bargaining for K–16 (kindergarten through university) employees in 1975, replacing the Winton Act. The law gave employees the right to unionize, and it required school districts to recognize the duly elected unions as the sole bargaining agents and to negotiate only with them. Assembly Bill 631, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2000, allows for the provisions of the Rodda Act to be applied to charter school employees.

Employees in a bargaining unit (usually a school district) select one organization as exclusive representative. The largest unions for certificated employees are California Teachers Association (CTA), California Federation of Teachers (CFT), and United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA). For classified employees, the largest are California School Employees Association (CSEA), American Federation of School, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Negotiations in private between representatives of the union and the governing board result in a binding contract (for a maximum of three years). Some districts use alternatives to the traditional collective bargaining process, such as trust agreements.

Scope

The topics for negotiations (“scope of bargaining”) include “matters relating to wages, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment,” such as benefits, leave and transfer policies, safety conditions, class size, evaluation procedures, and grievance procedures. Additional items have been added through court cases, PERB (Public Employment Relations Board) decisions, and the law (e.g., length of school day/year).

The “sunshine clause” of Senate Bill 160 requires that initial proposals be presented for public comment before negotiations begin and that financial consequences be made public before the school board signs a contract.

Effective Jan. 1, 2001, all employees must join the selected union or pay a service fee. Previously, this so-called “organizational security” was subject to negotiation.

In addition, a government code section added in 2004 requires that the superintendent and chief business official of a school district certify in writing that the costs incurred by the district under the proposed collective bargaining agreement can be met during the term of the agreement. This certification, which is submitted to the county superintendent, must also itemize any budget revisions necessary to meet the costs of the agreement.

PERB (Public Employment Relations Board)

Established by Senate Bill 160, this board consists of five members appointed by the governor. They decide matters in dispute, especially about the scope of collective bargaining. PERB also establishes rules regarding various types of disputes, including:

• Unfair labor practices;
• Impasse, mediation, and fact-finding processes if negotiations break down; and
• Strike actions by employee groups and “work to rule” (a situation in which union members adhere strictly to the minimum work required by the collective bargaining agreement).

Court Ruling on Strikes

In May 1985, the California Supreme Court ruled that strikes by public employees are legal unless the public safety is threatened (County Sanitation District No. 2 v. Los Angeles County Employees Association).