Tustin Teachers Vote for Oct. 2 Walkout

Tustin’s teachers, angered over not having a formal contract since June, 1984, voted Thursday to go on strike Oct. 2 if they have not secured a pay agreement by then.

The vote set no duration for the strike, and teachers’ union officials said that if there is a walkout, it will be for an indefinite period--not for one day only.

Sandy Banis, president of the Tustin Educators Assn., the teachers’ union, said the 425 teachers in the Tustin Unified School District are seeking “at least” a 2.5% cost-of-living pay raise for last year and an additional 3.8% salary increase for longer work hours last school year.

The Tustin school board has repeatedly said it cannot afford a cost-of-living pay raise for the teachers because declining enrollment has reduced the amount of money given to the district by the state. The school board offered the teachers an average 3.85% pay raise for having worked longer hours, but the teachers voted that down, 170 to 45, on June 10.

At the time, the teachers said they were insisting on both a cost-of-living raise and the extra compensation for longer work hours. The teachers noted that virtually all other school districts in Orange County last year agreed to both types of raises.

At their meeting Thursday, held in a fellowship hall at Aldersgate United Methodist Church of Tustin, the teachers voted 105 to 61 against calling for an immediate strike when schools in the system open on Monday. Teachers against an immediate strike said Monday is too soon for a strike and more time is needed to inform the public of the teachers’ problems.

Tustin schools Supt. Maurice Ross, contacted after the teachers’ meeting, said he was pleased that the teachers rejected the motion for an immediate strike.

“This is a good community, and it deserves to have its schools open when they’re supposed to,” he said. “Of course, we were prepared to open schools on Monday regardless. I’d obtained more than enough substitute teachers, but I’m glad they’re not going to be necessary.”

Asked about Banis’ assertion that teachers would demand pay raises for last year totaling at least 6.3%, Ross responded: “That’s out of the question. We’ve repeatedly told the teachers that we don’t have money for a cost-of-living allowance. If it takes a strike to get that point across, then it will take a strike. But strikes don’t produce money.”

Banis also said Thursday that the teachers will be seeking agency fees and binding arbitration in their contract. Agency fees require all teachers, whether or not they belong to the union, to pay their share of the cost for having the union represent them in collective bargaining. Binding arbitration requires both sides in a labor dispute to accept the settlement decreed by a neutral third party.

Ross said Thursday that the school board remains unalterably opposed to both binding arbitration and agency fees. “They’re unanimously opposed to both,” said Ross.

Looking beyond the threatened strike, Banis also told teachers at the Thursday meeting that a teachers’ union goal is to oust two of the five school board members seeking reelection this year.

Bill Riblett, a California Teachers Assn. representative at the Tustin meeting, estimated that 350 teachers initially attended the session but that about 100 left early. There were about 200 teachers in the meeting hall when the key votes were taken. While some teachers declined to vote on two early motions, a show of hands indicated near unanimity when the Oct. 2 strike motion was made. About 15 in the room raised hands in opposition.

Initially, union leaders had recommended that the teachers set Dec. 3 as their strike date. That motion passed, 110 to 68, but opponents argued that December was too late in the year for an effective job protest.

The motion for the October strike was then made and drew virtually united support. Teachers cheered as the winning vote was signified by a waving sea of hands.

The motion called for teachers to picket every school in the district at least once a week this month.

Just before they adjourned, Banis told the teachers that she was proud of their show of determination.

“The people (of Tustin) don’t want labor unrest, but they don’t want to lose good teachers,” said Banis. “It (the strike) is on Oct. 2, Dr. Ross!”