MAAC Community Charter School teachers have taken their fight for a fair labor contract to the streets.
MAAC teachers spent the last two-weeks standing in solidarity wearing red union shirts picketing in front of the school holding signs that read: “Union Strong,” “Fair Contract Now,” and “Students First.” Teachers picketed in the morning before the start of school and during their lunch up until Tuesday, the last day of school.
Art teacher Charlie Mejia, also the bargaining representative for the teachers’ union, said bargaining has been going on for nine months, with little to no movement on a resolution, prompting teachers to put pressure on labor talks by protesting outside their workplace at 1385 Third Ave.
He said teachers have offered multiple contract proposals but that MAAC representatives delay the bargaining process.
“We feel that the MAAC organization has been stalling, they’ve been dragging their feet,” Mejia said. “We are out here (picketing) because we want them (and the) community to know that we’re trying to push this along.”
Arlene Gibbs, chief human resources officer and MAAC negotiatior, said the contract takes a while to settle because there is not a previous contract to base negotiations off of.
Gibbs said the school is trying to do all they can to reach an accord but teachers continue to decline their proposals.
“Last meeting, we submitted four counter proposals,” she said. “The teachers took a minute to think about it and came back and declared an impasse and abruptly left the meeting,”
Entering into contract negotiations is a new way of conducting business between the teachers and the charter high school.
In November 2015, teachers organized and formed the MAAC Community Charter School Education Association. Prior to unionizing, teachers were at-will employees, meaning they can get terminated at anytime without cause. Currently, 13 teachers are employed at the school, all of them belonging to the union.
However, Gibbs said teachers are still considered at-will employees until a contract is reached.
Mejia said MAAC teachers primarily want stability and the implementation of a wage scale.
He said stability is needed because of the high turnover rate of teachers at MAAC. He said about 46 percent of teachers on staff eventually leave for a better job.
“We want a contract where teachers want to come here and stay here,” he said.
A competitive salary scale would help attract more teachers to teach at the school or at least keep them, Meija said.
By comparison, second year MAAC teacher Luis Duarte said he earns about $50,000 annually. Duarte said when he taught at the Sweetwater Union High School Distirct he made close to $72,000 a year.
Gibbs said its hard for a charter school to offer a similar deal to the Sweetwater Union High School District.
“We are a small charter school, not a school district,” she said.
Teachers and MAAC reprsentatives are scheduled to meet with a mediator over the summer break.
MAAC Community Charter School is part of the MAAC project.
The school was established in 2001 in response to the increasing need for a supportive , alternative learning environment to help struggling students gain self-confidence, embrace learning and earn a high school diploma.
