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Union leader warns Carpinteria Unified bargaining is at impasse and says strike is possible
Summary
Employee union president told the board the district has declined in-person bargaining, canceled sessions and offered small employee raises while giving larger increases to administrators, bringing talks to impasse and raising the prospect of a strike; the board did not take action.
Jay Hochner, president of the employee union, told the Carpinteria Unified School District Board on Nov. 13 that contract negotiations have reached an impasse and that a general employee strike is “as close as we’ve ever been.” Hochner said the district declined to meet over the summer after impasse was certified by the state, canceled 11 of 14 scheduled bargaining sessions during an 18-month period and refused to meet face to face for impasse proceedings.
Hochner accused the district of offering two to 2.5% raises to employees while approving “two” administrative salary increases totaling about 10–12% during the same period. “Is it any wonder we are at impasse and why the possibility of a general employee strike is now being considered?” he asked the board during public comment.
Hochner framed the dispute as a failure of oversight and transparency, calling unanimous approvals of agenda items in prior meetings “100% consensus” and saying that the lack of recorded dissent may signal decisions are being advanced without public debate. He asked the board why district officials “refuse to discuss these matters in public.”
Presiding Board Member responded in part by noting closed-session labor negotiations under Government Code section 54957.6 and indicated no formal action was taken in closed session that evening. Aside from that procedural clarification, the board did not announce a response to Hochner’s specific allegations at the meeting.
Hochner’s remarks also described the union’s view that the district had rejected employee proposals and declined to contractualize a district-wide expectation that all staff receive CPR and first-aid training. The union criticized a consent-agenda consultant agreement for CPR training as an “opt-in” and too limited to restore a previous practice of systemwide, annual training.
What happens next: Hochner urged the district to resume meaningful bargaining; the board took no public action on the claims during the meeting. The union’s allegations and the district’s accounting of bargaining activity were raised in public comment but not resolved on Nov. 13.
Sources: Public comment by Jay Hochner at the Nov. 13 board meeting and the board’s closed-session report (conference with labor negotiators under Government Code section 54957.6).
