ATA Weekly

What Labor Day Means to Us

As we finish our fourth week of school and head into Labor Day weekend, I have been thinking about what the holiday means for those of us who belong to a union.

For many people, Labor Day simply means a welcome three-day weekend. For union members, it also carries a history worth remembering.

The salary schedule we work under, our health benefits, preparation time, class-size language, leave provisions, working-condition protections, due process rights, and many other provisions we rely on are part of a collective bargaining agreement. Many of these protections reflect years of effort by ATA members who came before us, members who organized, negotiated, advocated, and strengthened our profession.

That history is also a reminder that a union is more than a contract or an office you call when something goes wrong. Its strength comes from members participating and having a voice in the decisions that affect their work.

We are seeing that participation right now. Members have submitted bargaining priorities and shared ideas for improving our contract. Site representatives are bringing concerns and questions forward. This week, our Bargaining Team spent two days reviewing member input and beginning the work of developing proposals for full contract negotiations.

With a membership as large and diverse as ours, we will not always agree on which issues should come first or what the best solution looks like. We do not need to agree on every issue. What matters is that members have a voice in setting our priorities and shaping the direction of our Association.

So, as you enjoy the Labor Day weekend, I hope you take a moment to appreciate the ATA members who came before us and what they did to build the Association we have today. We honor their contributions by continuing to participate, speak up, and look out for one another.

Have a safe and restful Labor Day weekend.

Ralph Hernandez

alhambrateacherspresident@gmail.com

Meet Your ATA Bargaining Team

From left to right: Jeanny Cuevas (Emery Park), Coby Nassar (Alhambra HS), Sarah Smith (Ramona), Ni'Kysha Johnson (Bargaining Chair, Park), Cindy Vernon (Mark Keppel HS), Jessica Arthur (Ynez), and Isabel Dominguez (Mark Keppel HS).

Thank you to everyone who participated in our recent bargaining survey. Your responses, combined with the input collected last school year, have given the Bargaining Team a broad range of member priorities, concerns, and ideas to consider.

On September 3 and 4, the Bargaining Team met at the ATA office to review the feedback and begin turning identified priorities into bargaining proposals.

This is a full contract bargaining year, which means both ATA and AUSD may propose changes to any article of our collective bargaining agreement. Salary, health benefits, and the school calendar are also open for negotiation.

Your input helps guide this work. We will continue providing updates as we move from preparation into negotiations.

Recent air conditioning problems across several sites have raised questions about work orders, 5-Day Letters, and when members should use each. While AC provides a timely example, this process applies more broadly to concerns involving educational equipment, facilities, and supplies covered under Article VIII, Unit Member Working Conditions.

For an AC problem, ATA advises members to submit a 5-Day Letter. Doing so creates a written record of the working condition and triggers the contractual response process.

For other equipment, facilities, or supply concerns that are not urgent in nature, begin by following your site’s procedure for submitting a Work Order. Keep the work-order number and a copy or record of your submission. If the problem is not addressed within a reasonable period, submit a 5-Day Letter.

A work order requests that the problem be addressed. A 5-Day Letter documents the concern and triggers the contractual response process.

WHAT DOES “5-DAY” MEAN?

A 5-Day Letter does not require the District to complete a repair within five days. Article VIII provides that when equipment, facilities, or supplies are unavailable, administration will provide the reasons for its inability to correct the problem and a timeline for correction within five days of receiving the unit member’s written concerns.

For example, an AC unit may require a replacement part that is not immediately available. The repair may take longer than five days. The contractual requirement is for administration to respond with the reason for the delay and a timeline for correction.

A 5-DAY LETTER IS DOCUMENTATION, NOT AN ACCUSATION

A 5-Day Letter documents a working-condition concern. It is not a complaint against your administrator. A principal may have already reported an AC problem and may have little control over parts, scheduling, or when a repair is completed. Filing the letter does not suggest otherwise.

Members should feel comfortable using the processes provided in our collective bargaining agreement. No member should be discouraged from documenting a legitimate working-condition concern because of how the submission might be perceived.

WHY DOCUMENTATION MATTERS

Documentation also helps ATA identify broader concerns. One malfunction may be an isolated repair. Similar or recurring problems affecting multiple classrooms or sites help ATA identify patterns and raise larger facilities concerns with the District.

Keep relevant dates, work-order numbers, and follow-up communications. For AC concerns, document classroom temperatures, dates, and times when possible.

AUSD is beginning a series of Community Conversations as part of the Enrollment Impact Committee’s work to consider the impacts of declining enrollment on our schools.

These meetings give employees, families, students, and community members an opportunity to share their experiences, concerns, and priorities as the District considers how declining enrollment will affect our elementary schools.

ATA strongly encourages members to participate and share how declining enrollment is affecting your school or workplace, including its impact on students, programs, services, staffing, workload, and working conditions. The decisions ahead may have lasting effects across the District, and the perspectives of the employees who work directly with students should be part of the discussion.

Please review the Community Conversation schedule below and attend a meeting that works best for you.

Election time is almost here! On Thursday night, October 1, the League of Women Voters will moderate a Candidate Forum for Alhambra City Council candidates in Districts 1 and 5. This is your chance to attend in-person, ask questions of the candidates, and learn what policies they will support, if elected. The Forum is sponsored by a group of local non-profit organizations: Alhambra Historical Society, Alhambra Latino Association, Alhambra Preservation Group, and Grassroots Alhambra. Hope to see you at the Alhambra Library’s Reese Hall at 6 p.m. Tell your friends!

SEPTEMBER

September 14

- ATA Grievance Committee (4:00 PM, ATA Office)

September 15

- ATA Board of Directors (4:00 PM, ATA Office)

- Board of Education (6:00 PM, Marengo West)

September 22

- ATA Rep Council (4:00 PM, ATA Office)

OCTOBER

October 6

- Board of Education (6:00 PM, Marengo West)

October 12

- ATA Grievance Committee (4:00 PM, ATA Office)

October 13

- ATA Board of Directors (4:00 PM, ATA Office)

October 20

- ATA Rep Council (4:00 PM, ATA Office)

October 27

- Board of Education (6:00 PM, Marengo West)

The Alhambra Teachers Association (ATA) exists to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions of teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education; to ensure that the human dignity and civil rights of all children and youth are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable and democratic society.

Email: ataoffice3030@gmail.com
Website: www.alhambrateachers.org
Address: 3030 West Main Street, Alhambra, CA, USA
Phone: (626)289-1933
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlhambraTeachersAssociation/