On-Again, Off-Again Orange Teachers’ Strike Is On Again

Teachers at the Orange Unified School District went back on strike Wednesday after contract talks once again broke down.

“This is a ridiculous strike,” said state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig in Sacramento. “Both sides are so close that this should be settled.”

But a state mediator assigned to the strike declined to reschedule talks between school district negotiators and the union, the Orange Unified Education Assn.

The district said all classes met Wednesday, mostly staffed by substitute instructors. The district reported absenteeism of about 25% in high schools and 15% to 20% at the elementary level.

Teachers had returned to their classrooms Tuesday in the 24,500-student district, one day after Honig personally intervened, urging suspension of the strike and a “cooling off” period. When bargaining resumed, state mediator Draza Mrvichin had joined in the process and teachers had lowered their demand for a pay raise this year from 3.45% to 3%, said Ted Bynum, executive director of the union.

School district negotiators, however, held fast to the district’s position that it could not afford more than a 2.54% one-time-only bonus and after talks stalled a few hours later, teachers held a mass meeting and agreed to continue their strike.

Honig, in an interview from Sacramento, said he is still calling both sides, hoping they can find a way to settle.

“No one is going to win this,” he said. “The teachers have already lost more (in money docked for missing five class days) than they will get in increased pay.”