LYNWOOD — Before a crowd in purple T-shirts worn by members of Service Employees International Union Local 99 and the California School Employees Association — two of the district's three unions — school board members on Tuesday night voted 3-2 on a proposal to cut 118 classified employee positions, ranging from custodians to office assistants to security officers to library assistants.
Board President Jose Solache, Vice President Oscar Espinoza and board member Rachel Chavez voted in favor of the proposed cuts, while board members Alfonso Morales and Maria Lopez cast the two dissenting votes.
“This is not something that we wanted to do, but it’s staff’s recommendation on how to solve the district’s budget problem,” said Solache in an interview after Tuesday night’s school board meeting. “Unfortunately, last time it was the teachers. Today, we’ve learned that SEIU and CSEA will be part of the impact that everybody is taking.”
The 3-2 vote is only the first step in the process, said Solache. “It’s the first step in the legality of noticing employees, but once we sit down at the table, hopefully, we can come up with alternatives to having to make these cuts,” he said.
Among the options, are furlough days, but it’s not clear if the unions will consider the options. “At this point we are open to anything, as long as it’s legal, but we want everyone to know that as a district, we are all feeling the impact, from the top to the bottom. We’ve noticed our teachers, now employees, next in line are administrators,” Solache added.
The district sent out 187 layoff notices to teachers in March. Though teachers requested their hearings, an administrative law judge ruled in favor of the district regarding 176 reduction-in-force letters.
“Again we’re still waiting for the May [budget] revise,” Solache said. “If things get better, if we’re not that impacted, then rescinds can be sent out.”
Employee retention, including teachers in the classrooms, is a big priority for the district, Solache said.
Last year, teachers voted to give themselves a 3 percent cut to save teaching positions. And SEIU-Local 99 agreed to take seven furlough days in order to avoid any layoffs through June 30.
“We have to remember, that all of that, happened last year,” Solache said. “We took it to the level where we could have, but I don’t know if we can ask for anymore. I don’t know what type of exchange we can do with more furloughs and no cuts. … It’s going to take all of the stakeholders to sit down at the negotiating table and see what we come up with.”
According to interim Superintendent Patrick Leier, in order to get the equivalent of not making any cuts to the unions, they would have to agree to a 15 percent cut across the board. “That’s a huge rollback in salaries, and we know that’s not going to happen.”
Still, Leier said he believes from his experience in working with the two unions in Lynwood, both SEIU-Local 99 and CSEA will meet the district halfway.
“They’re good about that,” Leier said. “They’ve always been very understanding, as far as I can tell.”
Board member Alfonso Morales told the audience he voted against the cuts because he didn’t think the district was doing its best to save as many jobs as possible.
Morales, who was applauded for his statements and his no vote, reminded the union members in the audience that by the 3-2 vote, the board was not approving the cuts. “These numbers can be amended,” he said. “Tonight’s vote doesn’t mean that this is the way it’s going to be.”
Chavez said she knew the proposed cuts were on the horizon.
“We knew this was coming, even the board members who voted no … know that something has to happen,” Chavez said. “Just as we knew last year we would have no choice but to cut teachers, we knew something like this was going to happen because we’re talking now about the lack of funds.”
Having to consider job cuts is heartbreaking, she added.
“Unfortunately, what else can we do,” she said. “We were at the edge of the cliff last year and we were this close to receivership, but with good management, we’ve been able to back off a little bit. … Unfortunately, we still need to find ways to cut $6 million within the next year … so no matter what we do, we’re still at the edge of the cliff.”
Chavez said the board is merely taking the steps necessary in case it has to makes these cuts. “Just like we notice teachers, we have to notice the employees,” she said. “But who knows what can happen. The unions can offer some type of alternative to save those jobs, then we won’t have to make the cuts and we could rescind the proposal.”
While union leaders are unhappy, Chavez said she hopes negotiations can be a good give and take between the unions and the district.
“I know they are disappointed because they’ve worked with the district in the past,” Chavez said. “I hate having to make decisions like this, but we’ve been given no choice. What can we do when there just isn’t any more money. … I guess we will see what happens at the negotiation table.”
SEIU-Local 99’s Field representative Judy Vega warned members not to speak to the media. “If you speak to [a] reporter, you have to do so as an individual and not as a member of SEIU,” she told a group of union members who had gathered around her for a briefing about what the 3-2 vote meant to them.
Asked if anyone wanted to speak to The Wave after that, one of the members said: “Well not anymore, we were advised not to.”
Vega doesn’t speak for every member of SEIU-Local 99, said one of her members in a telephone call Wednesday afternoon.
“She doesn’t sign my check,” said the member, who asked to remain anonymous. “And she doesn’t speak for all of us, there were a lot of people who wanted to talk to you [on Tuesday]. … And we’re tired of depending on people like her to speak for us. We need someone new to go to the negotiation table for us, because it’s obvious that our reps aren’t doing what we need them to do. Because here we are again, back at the negotiating table and the talks have nothing to do with getting raises.”
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