We Have a Tentative Agreement on the Furlough MOU

REA, OSEA, and the District have tentatively agreed to a Furlough MOU. The MOU agrees to take 10 furlough days and - although we have been candid about our skepticism of the need for 10 unpaid furlough days - we were able to gain a number of protections for members and trigger language tied to more reasonable budget amounts, in order to restore days.
Among the provisions we acquired that helped move us towards a tentative agreement:

• 6 furlough days are student contact days (less work for less pay).
• 4 furlough days are paid holidays (days can be restored at any time throughout the year).
• Agreement that paid holidays will be restored first, before student contact days.
• Agreement that the District cannot convert the planning days to student contact days.
• Members will not lose insurance eligibility, retirement contributions, seniority or credit toward a full year, or leave accruals due to furlough days.
• Insurance premiums remain covered.
• No member will receive less salary between last year and this year. 
• Further unforeseen budget crises will lead to collaborative discussion with the Associations rather than automatically move to additional RIFs.

Four triggers to restore furlough days

• Trigger One: Outside Audit Numbers. 
• Trigger Two: State School Fund Increase.
• Trigger Three: Budgeted FTE yet to be posted or filled will be used to restore days (this is a new trigger designed to make sure unfilled positions don’t lead to padding the budget, but instead are used to benefit our members).
• Trigger Four: New funding in grants or other external sources. 

We realize that taking any furlough days for members is a hardship and choosing to TA an agreement is not an easy one. However, we feel that we have gained strong protections and trigger language that will enable us to get those days back if, in fact, the financial prognosis is not as dire as the District contends.
The next step in the process is for our members to ratify the agreement.
Reduced Pay
Both REA and OSEA agreed at the table to have pay reduced evenly across all 12 months of the year starting with our September 2025 paychecks. The goal is to minimize the burden of reduced pay so that it does not all hit only in the months in which furlough days occur. In the event members choose not to ratify the Furlough MOU, money can be reimbursed as appropriate. 
Q&As
We will be holding two virtual Q&As for OSEA and REA members on Wednesday, August 20th. (Members, please check your emails for the links.)
We will also hold an in-person Q&A on Monday, August 26th at 4:00 pm. This will be at RHS, but we are still working on the exact location. 
The Zoom meetings do have a maximum capacity of 500 people. While we do not foresee this being an issue, if you log in and cannot enter, please attend the other virtual meeting or come to the in-person version. 
Voting
Voting will take place the first week of September. Jeffrey Fuller will share details for REA and Esper Farmer will share details with OSEA in a separate email. Members from both locals must ratify for the MOU to go into effect. In order to ratify the MOU, a simple majority of voting members is necessary. If members of OSEA or REA choose not to ratify the MOU, both unions will return to the negotiating table.