Burbank Teachers Reject Pact

Even with some votes not yet cast, Burbank teachers Tuesday afternoon had already overwhelmingly rejected the school district’s latest salary offer in an 8-month-old wage dispute, setting the stage for a strike.

Maureen Doyle, president of the Burbank Teachers Assn., said the 550 teachers in the 17 elementary, junior and senior high schools in the district cast their votes Tuesday. Voting for 84 adult-school teachers vote will continue through Thursday.

“But even though the balloting is continuing, we have already overwhelmingly rejected the district’s offer,” Doyle said. “This lets the negotiators know how the teachers really feel--that the district’s offer is totally unacceptable.”

The vote authorizes the association’s board of directors to call a strike. Doyle said she would postpone action until after a mediation session Friday. “A strike is always the action of last choice,” she said, adding that the vote would give the teachers leverage in upcoming talks.

Doyle said she would gauge the success of the negotiations Friday and determine whether to gather the teachers to discuss a walkout.

Teachers walked out in April, 1980, for four weeks during a salary dispute.

District officials downplayed the significance of the vote. “We are still in the negotiation and mediation process,” said Elizabeth Burroughs, assistant superintendent for personnel.

The district had offered an across-the-board salary increase of 3%, plus a one-time bonus payment of 3.5% of annual pay.

Teachers are seeking raises of 5.5%, with a bonus payment of 3.5% of annual pay.

The salaries fall under a renegotiation clause covering the last year of a three-year contract that expires June 30.