School Unions to Rally Before BOE Meeting

* This story was updated at 11:34 a.m. on 11.19.13.

Two unions in ongoing contract disputes with the Long Beach School District plan to rally before a Board of Education meeting next week.

The Long Beach Classroom Teachers Association and the Long Beach Schools Employees Association will join forces to stage a so-called “Rally for Fair Contracts” a half hour prior to the 7:30 p.m. scheduled meeting at Long Beach Middle School, 239 Lido Blvd., on Nov. 26, LBCTA President Steve Freeman announced Tuesday.

“The LBSEA has been working under the terms of an expired agreement for more than four years and the LBCTA for more than two,” Freeman said in an email sent to Patch. “Negotiations have reached an impasse with no end in sight.”

As Patch reported last week, LBSEA  — a union representing the public school district’s non-instructional workers from bus drivers to teaching assistants — planned to enter a new round of negotiations with the school district involving a third party that will conduct an independent investigation and produce a non-binding report.

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LBSEA President William Snow charges that the more than 450 workers he represents have entered their fourth school year without a contract and without pay raises, while during that time all other district unions have received pay increases.

The school district has countered that that the district has been financially restrained by a state tax levy cap that was imposed starting in the 2011-12 school year, as well as by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which still must determine the amount to reimburse the district for eligible Hurricane Sandy-related damages to its buildings, leaving the district uncertain about its finances while constructing the 2014-15 budget.

Superintendent David Weiss told Patch that under the Triborough Amendment to the Taylor Law, LBSEA employees continue to work under the terms and conditions of their lapsed contract that includes the continuation of step increases based on their salary schedule. “The district has made several proposals to increase the value of their steps, but these proposals have been rejected by the union,” Weiss said.

The LBCTA — which represents more than 400 professional nurses, teachers and counselors, according to the union’s website — is in its second year operating under the terms and conditions of the Triborough Amendment, Weiss said. “The district proposals to increase the value of their salary schedule have also been rejected.”

Weiss said that the board of education is working with both groups to achieve contract resolutions. “We are confident that resolution will be reached that is in the best interest of our employees and taxpayers,” he said.