1. education
2. school

California Labor Management Initiative
Spring 2015 Symposium
May 8-9, 2015
Handlery Hotel
San Diego, CA
ABC’s Collaborative Labor
Management Partnership
Presenters:
Dr. Mary Sieu, Superintendent-ABC Unified School District
Ray Gaer, President-ABC Federation of Teachers
Maynard Law, President-ABC Board of Education
Rebecca Michel-Macias, President-ABC CSEA
QUICK FACTS OF
ABC UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
q 
Located in southeast corner of Los Angeles County
q 
Serving the communities of Artesia, Cerritos, Hawaiian
Gardens, portions of Lakewood and Norwalk
Artesia
0%
5%
11%
14%
Cerritos
Hawaiian Gardens
15%
Lakewood
40%
15%
Long Beach, La
Palma, Cypress
Norwalk
Out of District
QUICK FACTS OF
ABC UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Ethnic Breakdown
8%
0%
40%
American Indian/ Alaskan
Native
Asian/Pacific Islander
African American
Hispanic
42%
10%
White
QUICK FACTS OF
ABC UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
q 
q 
q 
q 
q 
q 
Student Population: 32,469 (PreK-Adult)
30 Schools – 19 Elementary Schools; 5 Middle
Schools; 5 High Schools; 1 Adult School; 10
Preschools
51% - Low Income Families
20% - English Learners
District’s Drop Out Rate - 2.3%
Total Number of ABC Employees - 3,446
q RELATIONSHIPS
q COMMUNICATION
q TIME
q COMMON
VISION
q 
q 
q 
q 
q 
From strife to stability (1993)
Harvard School of Management Conference-”Labor
Management in the Public School System”
New leadership (1999)
§  New superintendent and new board commit to
collaborate with the teachers’ union toward goal of
student achievement
Creating a new partnership between labor and
management
Creating new strategies, structures, and systems for
collaboration (South Side Schools Reading Collaborative)
The Partnership’s Mission Statement
The ABC Partnership is a collaborative effort to improve
student achievement and to enhance the teaching and
working environment for faculty, staff, and
administration through the institutional partnering of
colleagues in the ABC Unified School District and the
ABC Federation of Teachers.
Faculty and administration should have a voice in those
decisions that reflect the collaborative efforts and goals
of the partnership emphasizing a common
understanding of the issues, joint research, sharing of
information, mutual respect, and working together to
ensure each others’ success.
The Partnership’s Guiding Principles
q 
All students can succeed and we will not accept any
excuse that prevents that from happening in ABC.
We will work together to promote student success.
q 
All needed support will be made available to schools
to ensure every student succeeds. We will work
together to ensure that happens.
The Partnership’s Guiding Principles
q 
The top 5% of teachers in our profession
should teach our students. We will work
together to hire, train, and retain these
professionals.
q 
All employees contribute to student success.
q 
All negotiations support conditions that sustain
successful teaching and student learning.
This is the MAIN THING!
q 
We won’t let each other fail!
The Partnership’s Guiding Principles-Behaviors
q 
q 
q 
q 
q 
q 
We will work hard to understand the core of
each other’s job.
We will respect each other.
We will be honest with each other.
We will not “sugar coat” difficult issues.
We will disagree without being disagreeable.
We will reflect on each other’s comments,
suggestions, and concerns.
The Partnership’s Guiding Principles-Behaviors
q 
q 
q 
q 
q 
We will seek clarification until we understand.
We will maintain confidentiality.
We will both “own the contract.”
We will solve problems rather than win
arguments.
We will laugh at ourselves and with each
other.
ABC-ABCFT District Level Collaborations
Board of Education
Superintendent’s Office
Academic Services
• Weekly meetings
•  Transitional Kindergarten
• Shared principles; beliefs
•  CA Common Core Standards
• PAL Council
Business Services
• Insurance Benefits Committee
• Budget Workshops
•  SMARTER Balance Assessment
• Finance and Audit Committee
•  PROPS (Proactive Problem
Solving)
District
Human Resources
•  Negotiations
•  Recruitment and Retirement
Fairs
and
ABCFT
Collaborations
School Services
• Liaison with Principals – Training
(COMPASS)
•  New Teacher Orientation
• Problem-Solving
•  Personnel Issues
• PAL Survey Committee
Superintendent
Union President
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Negotiator
Asst. Supt. HR
Union President and Chief Negotiator
Asst. Supt. Academic
PASS Coordinator and VP Elem.
Curriculum and P.D.
VP HS and VP MS
Special Education
VP Special Education
Special Ed Advisory Committee
Information Technology
Union President
Coordinator of Child Dev
VP-Child Development
ABC Management
All Labor Unions
District Cabinet
ABCFT Executive Board
Principals
Site Reps
q 
Attend budget workshops together
q 
Chief Business Officer and Chief Negotiator meet
and compare numbers
q 
Budget overview meetings with all unions and
management led by the superintendent
q 
Greater understanding of expenditures and
revenues
q 
Hybrid: Traditional with interest based feeling tone
q 
Guiding principles are considered
q 
Pre-negotiations’ conversations frequently occur
q 
Rational for proposals are clear and reasonable
q 
We understand each others’ political realities
q 
Trust has been built over time
q 
We won’t let each other fail
q 
Ability to collaborate in a union partnership is a criteria
used when selecting new administrators
q 
Union representation is present on all administrator
interview panels
q 
Union’s point of view and input is valued and
considered when making major District decisions
q 
New principal training and orientation
q 
Building Representative trainings
q 
Monthly attendance at union meetings – 98%
attendance
q 
Providing opportunities to participate in AFT training
programs
q 
Having “fierce conversations”
q 
Building trust and relationships
q 
Creating a culture to question district
issues together
q 
q 
q 
q 
q 
Annual full day P.A.L.
retreat with site
administrators and site union reps
Created in 1999
Collaborative planning group
Focus on team building, communication, staff
development
P.A.L. Retreat has been replicated in other districts
Our Partnership Story:
q  ABCFT invites CSEA to their PAL Retreat
q  Dr. Sieu asked if CSEA would be interested in
creating a partnership? YES!
Why a Partnership? A Partnership would:
q  Improve Communication
q  Build positive relationships
q  Create change
q  Help us focus on a common goal
The Planning Begins
q  Monthly meetings with the Superintendent
q  Ongoing meetings held with HR Administrators
q  Together we decided on the common goal of
providing Professional Development for classified
staff
q  We proudly named our partnership PAL 2
q  Assembled a PAL 2 Advisory Committee:
Director-HR, CSEA President, CSEA-VP, a
secretary from elementary, middle, and high
schools, and District Office classified staff
q  Surveyed classified employees and administrators
Professional Development Begins
q  June 2012, our first workshop with 175 employees,
“Hidden Keys to Personal Success”
q  Adopted the motto “World Class Customer Service”
q  Last three years we have offered a full menu of
Professional Development opportunities. Such as:
q  Customer Service, Building Positive Relationships,
Technology Workshops, Common Core, PBIS
q  Classified Staff looks forward to participating in
Professional Development during their work day
Through this partnership we have:
Built mutual trust
Improved communication
Improved employees’ skills
Created a positive working environment for our
employees
q  Worked together to resolve conflicts and employee
issues
q  Developed a better understanding at the negotiations
table
q  Made a commitment to the overall success of our
students, staff, and the community we serve
q 
q 
q 
q 
Everything is awesome…when you are part of a team!
q 
Partnerships are about RELATIONSHIPS and trust
that are established over time
q 
Practice PAL with fidelity, authenticity, and open
COMMUNICATION
q 
Working together takes TIME and commitment
q 
Keep the focus on student achievement…. our
COMMON VISION
q  Dr.
Mary Sieu
mary.sieu@abcusd.us
q  Ray
Gaer
ray.gaer@abcusd.us
q  Maynard
Law
maynardthelaw@gmail.com
q  Rebecca
Michel-Macias
rebecca.michel-macias@abcusd.us
ABC Unified School District