Huntington Beach : Teachers, Others Reject 2 Labor Contract Offers

Teachers and other white-collar employees of Huntington Beach Union High School District have rejected, by wide margins, two contract offers that would have given them 3% salary increases, a spokesman said Monday.

Doug Scott, president of the Huntington Beach District Educators Assn., which represents 584 non-administrative white-collar employees, said 83% of the 525 members who cast ballots voted against the two offers.

Only 16 teachers voted for an offer of a 3% raise retroactive to July 1 with no other contract changes, Scott said. Similarly, 74 union members voted to accept an offer of a 3% salary increase retroactive to July 1, coupled with a 5% raise for the 1985-86 school year, he said.

District officials could not be reached for comment.

Scott said the district’s average annual salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree, 30 additional college units and 10 years of experience is $27,901--”lower than the Orange County average.”

The offers were made two weeks ago during a mediation session that was the second since contract negotiations broke down several months ago. District officials called the offers the “last, final and best” they would be making, and a vote was scheduled for last Friday and Monday.

The teachers’ association, meanwhile, opposed both offers, calling them unfair mandates of the school district.

Until the 3% offers were made, the district had offered 1%. The association has been holding out for 5%.