PSUSD employees continue bargaining with district

Employees with the Palm Springs Unified School District are getting an early start on their push for more money in their next contract after next school year.

A wave of black and white t-shirts filled the PSUSD board room. Dozens of employees stood together during a contract bargaining period with the district asking for a wage and medical cap increase and implementation of class and comp study.

“About 40 percent of the budget goes to PSTA members, this newest proposal is around 36 percent,” said Chuck Mills, bargaining chair for the teachers’ association.

Mills says teachers are on schedule for a new contract.

“We just like to remember that this is a people business and we like to see the fair share of funds go to the people who provide these services for the students,” Mills said.

While the Teamsters had the most representation at the meeting, their spokesperson said he’s not ready to talk publicly about their requests.

District representative, Brian Murray said he hopes to reach an agreement with the employees by June.

“When we settle with teachers usually shortly after that we always seem to be able to settle with our classified union,” Murray said. “This year we started early. we started before the holidays and I think some people think this is taking a really long time but in reality, we got a head start.”