District announces sick leave co-op
Yesterday the district announced its intention to create a sick leave co-op for employees. They are now setting up a leave co-op where employees contribute one day of leave and can only use five days from the bank. This is a start, and we encourage our members to contribute to the co-op. However, it does not go far enough. Many people are already being required to use their own leave for quarantine after just the first week of school. Our position remains the same: employees should not be required to use up personal leave while serving our students during a global pandemic. They should receive ten days of COVID leave, just like last year.
Ironically, even the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) has provided guidance on how districts can do this.
We support the efforts of the district to create a sick leave co-op for COVID, and highly encourage employees to participate. But a leave bank should be in addition to, not in lieu of, leave guaranteed to employees.
Like all decisions related to employment and working conditions, the district is making a choice. And if the district values the welfare of employees, as it frequently says during public school board meetings, they would choose to provide ten days of leave.
Survey on vaccine incentives and mandates
The district announced that it will offer a $250 incentive to all employees who provide proof of vaccination.
As other districts across the country begin to implement vaccine incentives and mandates, our union asked membership to weigh in.
83% of members support vaccine incentives, while 17% disapprove.
Do you support the district paying bonuses to employees who can show they have been vaccinated (other than those with religious or medical exceptions)?
77% of members would be in favor of a vaccine mandate, while 23% would not support a mandate.
Do you support the district requiring all employees, as a condition of employment, to show proof of vaccination (other than those with religious or medical exceptions)?
If you are a member of Education Austin and have not yet completed the survey, please email us at info@educationaustin.org to receive a link to complete it.
If you are not yet a member of our union, please join us today.
