Union Members Ratify Contract Agreement

Morgan Hill Unified School District clerks, custodians, food
service and other classified employees will receive a 4 percent pay
raise, retroactive to last summer and an additional 2.7 percent
effective July 1, under a new labor agreement reached last
week.
Morgan Hill – Morgan Hill Unified School District clerks, custodians, food service and other classified employees will receive a 4 percent pay raise, retroactive to last summer and an additional 2.7 percent effective July 1, under a new labor agreement reached last week.

The contract was ratified Tuesday evening by 129 votes in favor and 21 votes against. The new package will benefit the 300-plus members of the Service Employees International Union Local 521, which had been in mediation with district officials.

“I think this was worth fighting for,” said Pamela Torrisi, chairwoman of the local SEIU chapter. “Is it perfect, no, but we made some strides. It’s all about give and take, some people forget that. Let’s say we’re not thrilled but we’re happy with what we got.”

Under the contract, the starting hourly wage for a food-service worker will increase from $9.61 to $9.99 and the hourly rate for a clerk typist’s will jump from $11.17 to $11.62.

The district negotiating team has been working with SEIU’s team since December to attempt to reach an agreement. SEIU had declared negotiations at an impasse, but the district team made one more offer. 

Mediation talks began in March, with a state Public Employee Relations Board mediator. Four sessions and three months later, the two groups finally reached an agreement palatable to both.

Under the agreement, union members will receive the 6.7 percent raise, plus an increase in their benefits package for full time employees to $6,700 on July 1, then to $7,200 on Dec. 31.

Union members gather salary schedules from surrounding districts to show to trustees that placed them near the bottom of group in salary figures.