Union proposal seeks to define bargaining-unit membership and cut health-insurance wait from 120 to 61 days

Union negotiators opened Article 1 by proposing a clearer recognition clause that would exclude employees working fewer than 60 days from the bargaining unit but include any classified employee once they pass the 60-day mark. Amber, presenting the union's opening proposal, said the goal is to avoid inadvertently removing people from the bargaining unit and to make definitions for substitutes, temporary employees and student-workers consistent with classified status.

The proposal also would change health-insurance eligibility so coverage begins at day 61 instead of 120. "We believe 120 days is a really long time to go without health insurance," Amber said, arguing that the longer wait could be "devastating" for people with low incomes and their families. The union said seniority would similarly begin to accrue after 61 days to match the insurance change.

District members asked whether the change to section 1.1 would pull positions currently excluded into the unit, noting that "district student employees" are currently listed as excluded. Amber acknowledged that some positions might move into the unit under the proposed wording and said the change was intended to capture any worker performing classified work for more than 60 days.

Negotiators agreed to clarify the drafting and return with a revised proposal to resolve potential ambiguities about which positions the change would affect. The item remains at the proposal stage pending redrafting and further bargaining.