With contract negotiations between Madera Unified and the teachers’ union stalled over health benefits, neither side appears ready to budge over whether a cap will be placed on the district’s contribution to the employee health plan.
The issue has brought the district and the union to an impasse, and state mediators have been called to try to bring the two sides together.
In the meantime, the union membership has voted overwhelmingly to allow its leadership to call a strike if it deems it to be in the best interests of the teachers.
A survey of employee health and welfare benefit costs for school districts in Madera County and the Central Valley reveals Madera Unified ranks second in dollars spent per employee...