PERB Issues Complaint that SCUSD “Backtracked,” “Misrepresented” and “Engaged in Regressive Bargaining” Over Distance Learning

The California Public Employment Relations Board issued a complaint against the Sacramento City Unified School District related to Distance Learning. You can read the complaint here.

PERB’s complaint makes an initial determination that:

The District’s bargaining team “lacked the authority to bargain, as they were repeatedly countermanded by Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar, who had declined to participate in actual negotiations, resulting in [SCUSD] contradicting and backtracking from proposals” related to Distance Learning;

[SCUSD] provided [SCTA] with incorrect information and misrepresented the bases for its bargaining positions, as when [SCUSD] rejected [SCTA’s] proposal to protect day-to-day substitute pay on the grounds that it needed these monies to purchase laptops for students, even though this was not true;”

“[SCUSD] engaged in regressive bargaining . . .”

“[SCUSD implemented its Distance Learning program] without having negotiated with [SCTA] to agreement or through the exhaustion of the impasse procedures . . .”

“[SCUSD] failed and refused to meet and negotiate in good faith with [SCTA]”

“[SCUSD] interfered with the rights of bargaining unit employees to be represented by [SCTA]”

The PERB complaint is the result of an unfair practice charge filed by SCTA, and after reviewing and evaluating the District’s lengthy defense to the charge.

The next step is an informal conference between the parties to see if unlawful conduct can be cured. If that fails, the matter will move to a formal hearing before an administrative law judge from PERB.

This is the seventh complaint that PERB has issued against SCUSD in the past two years.