Paso Robles school district reaches contract agreement with teachers, avoiding a strike
Paso Robles Joint Unified School District has reached an agreement with its teachers union, likely staving off a strike after months of dispute over contract negotiations.
According to a news release, the school district reached a tentative agreement with the Paso Robles Public Educators union Wednesday. The agreement came at the “end of a fact-finding hearing, careful deliberation and negotiations,” according to the release.
“Through open dialogue and collaboration, all parties involved have worked tirelessly to address the various concerns and considerations at hand,” the district wrote in a statement.
Contract negotiations between the district and its union — which represents more than 400 employees, from teachers to yard aides — initially stalled in February.
The union was demanding an 8.2% cost-of-living salary increase, while the school district said it could only afford a 2% increase. At the time, union representation told The Tribune that the leadership was considering a strike if the demands were not met, though it had not made firm plans to do so just yet.
It was not immediately clear Wednesday evening what the negotiated terms were in the tentative agreement, including how much of a pay raise the two sides agreed to.
The agreement will now be presented to the union membership, the district board of trustees and the community at an upcoming public board meeting, the release said.
“We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to this process, including our dedicated faculty and staff, our community members and the representatives involved in the fact-finding process,” the district statement concluded.
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