Third Teacher Union Takes Up Threat of Job Actions

A third Orange County teachers union said Thursday that a strike is among the labor actions possible because of a contract impasse.

Officials of the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Assn., which represents the 215 instructors in the Huntington Beach City Elementary School District, said a vote on labor actions will be taken at a meeting Wednesday. The union cited inability to reach agreement with the district on pay raise proposals, despite eight months of negotiations.

Santa Ana Unified School District teachers on March 22 authorized a strike but set no date for a walkout. On Tuesday, Orange Unified School District teachers staged a one-day strike and threatened more labor actions.

In all three districts, stalled negotiations over teacher pay raises are the cause of the strike threats.

Administrators in the three districts have said the real source of the problem is lack of adequate money for the schools from state government. These officials have said that teachers deserve more than a 2.54% pay increase this school year, but that percentage is all the new money the state gave its schools for 1987-88.

In the Huntington Beach district, the teachers union is seeking a 6% pay raise for the current year. The 6% would be only partially retroactive to the beginning of the school year and thus would not cost the school district a full 6% this school year, the union said. The district’s last offer was for a 3.5% pay increase retroactive to the beginning of the school year, coupled with a 0.8% increase in fringe benefits.

Carol Autrey, president of the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Assn., said Thursday that the district’s offer is unacceptable.

“We will be voting on April 20 to authorize concerted (labor) actions,” Autrey said.

Asked if “concerted actions” might include a strike, she said: “That’s a possibility. We don’t want to strike, but the district hasn’t made any movement” in pay-raise talks.

Autrey said that the Huntington Beach teachers will be considering an array of other options, such as work slowdowns.

Diana Peters, superintendent of Huntington Beach City Elementary School District, said Thursday that the school district has no more money to offer the teachers. She said the district faces cutting programs by half a million dollars just to be able to offer the 3.5% pay raise for the current school year.

“We truly do support our teachers, and we are going to need at least $500,000 in cuts to be able to finance the pay package we offered them,” she said. “The financial books are open to those who want to see where the money is going. I just wish we had more money to go to the teachers.”

According to district figures, teachers in the Huntington Beach elementary district make an average of $37,190 a year, and the salaries range from about $19,800 for a beginning teacher to $43,500 for the district’s most senior instructors.

The elementary district provides schools for 5,300 students in part of the city of Huntington Beach. Two other school districts, Fountain Valley and Ocean View, provide the balance of elementary schools in the city of 180,000 residents.

The mass meeting of the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Assn. is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Wednesday at Sowers School, 9300 Indianapolis Ave.

“Our patience has run out,” Autrey said. “We’ve picketed school board meetings, worn buttons and written letters, but the district has not heard us. We intend to make the board and administration listen.”

Teachers in Santa Ana Unified School District begin voting today on a proposed new contract and pay raise. The voting will continue, at the teachers’ respective schools, on Monday. The proposed new contract calls for a 5% bonus, or one-time payment, to the Santa Ana teachers for the current year and a regular 7% pay raise next year. Teacher salaries range from $20,670 to $41,383.