Huntington Beach Teachers Agree to a 2-Year Pact

After more than 18 months of bitter negotiations, including a one-day strike last May, the Huntington Beach City School District elementary teachers’ union on Thursday reached agreement on a 2-year contract. Huntington Beach was the only school district in Orange County where teachers and management had not agreed on pay raises last year. The teachers staged a one-day strike on May 11 that school administrators called “illegal” because of a no-strike clause in the contract then in effect.

A key concession gained by the union, which represents 216 teachers, is that the district will not punish those who took part in the strike.

The agreement was reached at 2 a.m. Thursday after 16 hours of continuous negotiation between union and school administrators. The proposed settlement calls for the teachers to get at least a 3.4% pay hike for the period from July 1, 1987, to June 30 of this year, with some to get up to a 3.7% raise. For the new fiscal year that began July 1, 1988, the union agreed to a 4.175% “total compensation” package of pay and benefits. Teachers will get about 1.5 to 2% of the 4.175% in a direct pay raise, and the rest will go to cover the increased cost of health insurance and other benefits.

The agreement reached is the same as one that was recommended in a report by a fact-finding panel sent in under the auspices of the state in August.

“We’re going to take the fact-finders’ recommendations,” said Carol Autrey, president of the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Assn. “We’re not happy about this settlement, but we’re happy that this is all over.”

The teachers’ union had hoped to get a straight 4.1% salary increase this school year, plus the cost of increased fringe benefits. The school district, however, said it could afford no more than the 4.1% increase in revenue given all school systems this year by the state. The fact-finders’ report in August agreed with the school district’s assertion that it could afford no more.

Autrey said the pact will be voted on by all the teachers in the district within the next two weeks and approval is expected.

Huntington Beach Assistant Supt. Ron Brown said he was pleased that a settlement had finally been reached. “We wish we could give the teachers more,” Brown said.

Autrey said: “The real solution to our finance problem lies with the state, and now the teachers are going to be working for the passage of Proposition 98 this fall so that maybe more money will be available.” Proposition 98, a statewide issue on the Nov. 8 ballot, would guarantee elementary-secondary education a set percentage of the state budget every year.