In the second public month of a flareup between the School District’s non-teachers union and parents seeking to shield adjuncts at El Marino Language School from being recruited into the union, Supt. Patti Jaffe, who is in the middle, was asked:
“What makes this case so dense?”
“The complicated part,” she said, “is that ACE (the Assn. of Classified Employees) has the right to bargain, but do they have the right to negotiate?”
What is the distinction between bargaining and negotiating?
Ms. Jaffe explained:
“You can go to the table and have a discussion regarding an issue. But it doesn’t mean you negotiate it.
“If somebody asks you to bargain and it is within the scope of representation, then we have to negotiate.”
Nearly a month ago, on Feb. 24, the ACE union sent a “Demand to Bargain” to the District. After receiving an affirmative response, ACE delivered a proposal, in person, to the District last Monday.
By Friday of this week, ACE President Debbie Hamme expects an answer. Ms. Jaffe told the newspaper it will be forthcoming.
“The union’s Demand to Bargain doesn’t mean we have to negotiate,” the Superintendent said, “just listen to their proposal. We must go sit down and hear what their proposal is.”
Two of the central questions to be answered between this week and the School Board’s community study session on Tuesday, April 10, are:
• Are the 20 non-union adjuncts at El Marino official District employees?
• Do they fall under the scope of negotiations, representation?
If the answers are negative, then, said Ms. Jaffe, the next move is up to the union. “They would need to decide what they want to do.”
