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Ithaca union and district begin talks on expanded parental leave; members share personal stories
Summary
Union negotiators presented a parental‑leave package that would add prenatal appointment days, extend paid coverage in the newborn period via the union sick bank, and explore reimbursement mechanisms; district negotiators asked for more detail and proposed joint drafting and a caucus next week.
Union negotiators presented a detailed parental‑leave proposal at a bargaining session and shared member experiences illustrating the policy’s potential effects.
Callie, a union member, described a multi‑year fertility and pregnancy history that required frequent medical appointments and resulted in a high‑risk pregnancy and a C‑section. She described using most of her accrued sick time during prenatal care, an eight‑week medical leave, and maternity recovery, leaving her with about 5.5 sick days available after returning to work. “I ended the 2017, 2018 school year balance with 0 sick days, trying to return back to school with 2 identical twin infants and pumping,” Callie said.
Union negotiators proposed three primary goals: protected leave for fertility treatment and prenatal care, a paid leave window covering the roughly 12‑week “fourth trimester” for the birthing parent, and protection for the first year of an infant’s life so parents are not forced to exhaust their sick banks for routine well visits or common childhood illnesses.
The union proposed that, on the date of delivery, employees who lack sufficient personal accumulated sick days would be able to draw from the district‑wide sick bank for up to a period the parties discussed as “12 school weeks” (the union and district used “60 days” in examples during the meeting). The parties discussed a reimbursement mechanism in which the district would reimburse the sick bank if the employee remains employed for a set number of years after the birth. The district negotiator said that concept was worth exploring but that details (budgetary and administrative) would need to be worked out.
District negotiators said they were open to joint drafting and requested the insurance riders and other technical details needed to compare costs. Both sides agreed to continue the discussion in a joint revision process and to schedule further bargaining sessions (the union requested a caucus and the parties discussed meeting next week). No formal agreement was reached at the session.
