SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Officials with the Sacramento City Unified School District [SCUSD] have agreed to a Saturday meeting with negotiators from SEIU 1021 following a three-day strike, officials with SEIU 1021 announced Saturday. However, SEIU 1021 announced no deal was reached Saturday afternoon.
In a statement to ABC 10, the union said they submitted counterproposals to SCUSD and have requested to negotiate again on Sunday.
“While we are encouraged to finally see some movement on their part, we believe that the counterproposals they have made to proposals we passed in October are not yet adequate to address the severity of the current staffing crisis in our district,” said Karla Faucett, SEIU 1021 Chapter President. “The SEIU 1021 team has requested to bargain again tomorrow in the interest of reaching an equitable agreement that will stop the exodus of classified workers from this district as well as recruiting new staff to fill the hundreds of vacant positions, and that will allow us to go back to doing what we love: taking care of Sacramento City children.”
The 1:30 p.m. Zoom meeting between the district and negotiators comes after failed negotiations led to a strike that began Wednesday, keeping children out of classrooms for three days, so far.
"I sincerely hope that the district will have looked at the proposals we've been making since October and either agree to them or make some sort of substantial counter-proposal that we can all work on together," said Jim Riffel, a member of the contract bargaining team with SEIU 1021.
SEIU 1021 officials held a news conference Saturday morning where they announced the meeting, saying the school district's board and Superintendent Jorge Aguilar failed to show up to a meeting with union officials and the State Superintendent of Schools, Tony Thurmond scheduled for Friday.
“We are ready to negotiate expeditiously and get this resolved so we would hope that we would have some kind of resolution by 5 p.m.,” said Tiffany Crane a negotiator with SEIU 1021. “But it's really up to the district to become to the table and be serious.”
SCUSD released a statement late Friday saying the school district appreciates the help offered by state and local officials, but "this is a local issue."
"We do not want to circumvent the appropriate process for reaching an agreement with our local labor partners through good faith collective bargaining, so will continue to work directly with SCTA to reach an agreement that allows us to end the strike and safely reopen our schools to children," SCUSD's statement said.
SCUSD teachers represented by Sacramento City Teachers Association have also gone on strike after they faced stalled contract negotiations, as well. The strike has included nearly 4,600 staff members and teachers, canceling classes at 76 schools impacting 43,000 students.
Both unions and the school district are at odds over issues such as staffing, better pay, training, and health benefits.
Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Jorge Aguilar responded to Friday's meeting called on by State Superintendent Tony Thurmond by releasing a statement.
"Our community is also wanting to understand what it will take to end this strike," Aguilar wrote in a statement. "With a counterproposal, the district’s negotiators are prepared to meet around the clock with SCTA so that we can bring our students on Monday. However, if we do not receive a response, with a counterproposal, over the weekend, ALL schools will remain closed for instruction and student activities until the strike comes to an end."
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