Local News in Brief : Norwalk : Raises for Teachers OKd

Months of frequently antagonistic bargaining talks ended last week with final approval of a two-year contract that gives the 835 teachers of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District a 5% raise each year.

The teachers have worked since September without a contract after refusing the district’s initial offer of a 3% pay increase. Some teachers boycotted after-school activities to protest the stalled negotiations, more prolonged than any in recent memory.

Along with increasing their pay, retroactive to September, the contract gives teachers added insurance benefits and grants them the right to hold secret balloting this spring to determine whether they all should be required to pay annual $400 dues to the teachers association, whether or not they belong to the union.

Nearly 90% of the district’s teachers belong to the union, which has long complained that non-union teachers benefit from the association’s bargaining efforts without contributing to it.

The package was approved 6 to 1 by the school board, with Gary Jones voting against it. To bring administrative and classified employees’ salaries in line, the board also increased their raises from the previously approved 3% to 5%.