Placentia : Union, School District to Negotiate After Sickout

Officials of the Placentia Unified School District and the union that represents the district’s bus drivers, who conducted a sickout Friday to show their dissatisfaction with contract talks, said Monday they will go back to the negotiating table.

The 40 bus drivers (of a total of 44) who called in sick Friday were back on their regular schedules Monday, transporting about 3,000 children to and from schools in Placentia and parts of Brea, Anaheim, Fullerton and Yorba Linda.

A union representative said officials are not planning action similar to Friday’s sickout, in which officials estimate that about 100 non-management employees, including the bus drivers, called in sick to protest wage and benefit negotiations with the school district.

“At this time, we are not planning a sickout. However, should the district offer no further movement--who knows,” said Sharon Furlong, field representative with the California School Employees Assn. The association has 265 members in the district, she said.

Both sides said they hope to settle their differences at a meeting later this week. No date had been set as of Monday, said Furlong and Nick Siokes, the school district’s assistant superintendent of personnel services.

The dispute revolves around a 9% salary hike the union is seeking for the bus drivers, clerks and other workers. The school district is offering 5%. The average, full-time bus driver in the district now makes about $13,000 a year, but most drivers work part time and make less.