President's Message August 10th, 2021
Hello TVEA Members,
On behalf of our 12 -member TVEA Executive Board, I would like to welcome you to the 2021-22 school year.
Tomorrow is the first day of school! While the start of this year will be a bit different than most previous years, I hope your anticipation and excitement to greet your students is building!
Our top priority entering 2021-22 is to seek to achieve a “Back on Track” Successor Contract to update our current contract which expired June 30th.
There seemed to be member consensus that our Bargaining Team did a phenomenal job last year, negotiating a 3.5 % off schedule payment and multiple Memorandum of Understandings which reflected the twists and turns of school closures and subsequent return to in-person instruction. By the time the final MOU was signed off in May, there was not ample time for the TVEA and TVUSD teams to adequately address a successor contract.
How will we achieve a desirable successor contract?
It won’t be due solely to the talent or good looks of the TVEA Bargaining Committee. It is critical that our members are organized and stay actively informed within established communication networks at their school sites.
We are seeking Site Leaders or representatives to fill vacancies at multiple sites and will work to develop site teams known as “Contract Action Teams” which can keep their grade, subject, and building members informed on how they can provide support to our Bargaining team. Please reach out to any elected TVEA leader if you would like to join our team in any of these capacities.
TVEA will be soon developing a Bargaining Platform for 2021-22 Negotiations which we will bring to our TVEA Leadership Council in early September for ratification. This will be shared with membership, and we look forward to your support.
The State of California has issued a Public Health Order for all staff and students to wear face coverings while indoors at school, including during instruction. Members may be curious as to TVEA’s role or position on this matter. TVEA does not set or negotiate the state guidelines related to in-person instruction. As we did in 2020-21, we will continue to consult with TVUSD and negotiate any impacts and effects of COVID issues related to working conditions. We understand that as a local government agency which functions from state funding, TVUSD as well as other local Riverside County Districts have a responsibility to oblige by such mandates. TVUSD released their initial plan to address face coverings last Friday and we pledge to continue to monitor any impacts or changes to our collective bargaining agreement or TVEA/TVUSD contract.
While there currently are polarizing issues in both the local and national landscape, I have urged my fellow elected and appointed leaders to continue to stay the course by keeping the focus on our Contract, Working Conditions, and Serving Students. As your exclusive labor representative, TVEA is a non-partisan organization which is not ideologically liberal nor conservative. Our members have a diversity of views across the political spectrum on various issues.
I urge our organization and members to not get tangled up in divisive issues which we cannot control. Rather, we need to unify around upcoming negotiations and collectively insist on a worthy successor contract.
While we hold a variety of job titles at nearly thirty (30) work locations, WE are ONE TVEA of more than 1300 members!
TVEA is proud of each of YOU as a highly skilled professional who is a Dedicated and Committed Advocate for Teaching and Learning!
I wish you a great start to your school year!