Meet & Confer Recap: Nov. 18 Public Negotiation #3

Watch at bit.ly/MC12-18recording.

In spite of it being a cold, rainy night the Thursday before winter break, DPS workers, parents, and community supporters again filled the chairs at our third Meet & Confer negotiation of the school year, the last of 2025.

We presented our 25-26 Meet & Confer priorities petition with over 2,500 worker signatures during a press conference beforehand, with signatures from the majority of DPS workers and from all 64 worksites.

We saw some positive movement from DPS leadership on our collective grievance policy proposal, including alignment on:

• DPS workers' right to representation during the grievance process.

• A standardization of the grievance process, with a universal and accessible grievance form.

• The ability to bring grievances collectively. More details need to be finalized next session.

We returned to discussion of classified staff pay and DPS leadership committed to:

• A $19.22 per hour starting minimum wage

• Bringing cost projections for 1% and 2% step increases

However, in spite of saying at our first Meet & Confer session that they would prioritize a $25 per hour starting minimum wage for classified staff over admin raises, they are still including raises for admin in their cost projections. This is unacceptable.

The district also said that they are not allowed to provide workers with paid bereavement leave, claiming that it is illegal to provide public school workers with additional types of leave days. We will be taking this dubious claim back to our lawyers.

Finally, the district shared that they are unable to compute the number of extra duties that staff are currently compensated for, and the stipends received, because of their current computer equipment - "That data was too much and we need a more robust computer." Sigh.

DPS workers, parents, and community members are aligned on what our schools need. Only through the combined pressure of hundreds of us continuing to show up, in person, to our Meet & Confer negotiations this year will we be able to win the changes that students, staff, and families so deeply need.

This article was first published by Durham Association of Educators.