Local News
Mt. Diablo unified negotiations with teachers deadlocked, state mediation requested
Contra Costa County, California – The Mt. Diablo Unified School District teachers’ union has filed a deadlock declaration, claiming that the district’s negotiating team has failed to provide a fair proposal.
The existing contract with the Mt. Diablo Education Association, which represents over 1,500 teachers, nurses, librarians, and other school professionals, ended on June 30, and MDEA filed the declaration with the state’s Public Employee Relations Board when negotiations broke down.
The matter has now been referred to a mediator, who will set up meetings in order to achieve an agreement.
Salary, benefits, class sizes, and other issues have yet to be resolved, according to the district. The union is seeking a 12.5 percent wage rise over the course of the proposed three-year contract, claiming that its members have not received a raise since 2017, while the district says that its latest offer was a 7 percent raise over three years.
“If district management agrees to a fair and just settlement, we can reach a tentative agreement during mediation. If district management continues to fail our educators, the next step after mediation is fact-finding. If the fact-finding process does not lead to a just and fair contract, we may need to call a strike and withhold our services until an agreement can be reached,” MDEA president Anita Johnson said in a statement.
“We are going to go through the impasse process and continue to bargain in good faith and we’re going to try to reach an agreement,” MDUSD Superintendent Adam Clark said.