Teachers Association of Long Beach members voted overwhelmingly to ratify tentative agreements today, ending an extended negotiation process with Long Beach Unified after union members voted down the last deal, primarily citing frustration over the lack of pay increases.
Of K-12 educators who participated, about 86% voted to ratify the contract; of Child Development Center and Head Start educators who participated, 96% voted to ratify, TALB president Gerry Morrison said.
Teachers did not win an increase in compensation in this agreement either, as the district is staring down a $70 million deficit and announcing cuts as part of its “journey towards fiscal stabilization.” Members have come to understand that since the last vote, especially as the tenor of the conversation around layoffs has gained gravity, Morrison said. Recognition of the district’s financial reality “has taken some of the anger about not getting a pay raise out of the negotiations,” he said.
Yet the newly ratified contracts do include other wins, such as more assertive boundaries around workload, protections for specialized staff, more generous time off, relaxed rules for transfers, higher safety standards and no monthly health care premiums — a priority for members, Morrison said.
The contracts also include memoranda of understanding with the district to establish several committees, including one to address adjunct hours (work completed outside the school day), an issue teachers raised with the Long Beach Post in September.
The new contracts will cover members through June 2028, yet some articles are open for negotiation each year. Now that these contracts have passed, bargaining for the 2025-26 contract will begin in January.
Morrison said the bargaining team plans to focus this next round of talks with the district on strategies for revenue generation (such as boosting attendance) in order to reduce position cuts for members. He expressed relief that this agreement has been ratified so “we can move on and address the many problems we are facing.”