Talks Resume in Teachers’ Strike; End May Be in Sight

With signs pointing toward a possible settlement, talks stretched from Wednesday afternoon into early today in an effort to bring the eight-day-old Los Angeles teachers’ strike to an end and restore labor peace in the nation’s second-largest school district.

In his most optimistic statement yet, teacher union President Wayne Johnson said he hoped “we can get movement today and settle this thing. I don’t think we are that far apart.”

Describing herself as “cautiously optimistic,” school board President Roberta Weintraub said she was “just very hopeful that we will go into this bargaining session and emerge with a contract. . . . I hope we have conciliation rather than confrontation.” Weintraub declined, however, to give details on what her side would propose.

According to Johnson, the last sticking point before the strike can be resolved is the issue of restoring pay docked during job actions, such as withholding grades.

Teams of three officials from each side entered the Westin Bonaventure Hotel downtown about 3 p.m. for talks under the supervision of a state mediator. The school board and the union’s board of directors were put on call to quickly review a proposed settlement.

Both sides attributed the newly upbeat mood to their trip to Sacramento on Tuesday and assurances from state legislators there that the district was to receive at least $40 million in extra state funds this fiscal year. However, still up in the air is how much of that money can be designated for salaries.

According to Johnson, legislators “brought a sense of realism” to the situation. He particularly praised Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) with helping defray tempers. On Monday, the district and union swapped barbs about their respective bargaining positions and a quick resumption of negotiations appeared unlikely.

Weintraub said Wednesday that she hoped schools could be back to normal as soon as today. However, the union was planning for a possible ratification vote at a noon meeting today at the Sports Arena, which would keep teachers out of the classrooms until at least Friday even if a settlement is reached.

In the days leading up to Wednesday’s bargaining session, there had been some misdemeanor arrests and sporadic incidents of unruliness. On Wednesday, one of the most serious incidents occurred when a striking teacher at Andrew Carnegie Junior High School in Carson was arrested and held on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon when he allegedly threw a rock at a car crossing a picket line and hit a 12-year-old student. A spokesman for the county sheriff said teacher David Torgersrud, 30, of San Pedro, was being held with bail set at $5,000. The girl was treated at a hospital for cuts and then released.

School police said two other teachers were arrested in less serious incidents Wednesday, one of them for attempted trespassing at district headquarters.

Attorneys for the school district asked a Superior Court judge Wednesday to limit pickets at entrances to schools and other district property and to prohibit other striking teachers from picketing, marching or standing within 100 yards of those areas.

Judge Kurt Lewin agreed to temporarily bar striking United Teachers-Los Angeles members from blocking entrances to school sites, threatening those who cross picket lines and disrupting classes. Lewin refused to limit the overall number of demonstrators but did order the pickets to remain in pairs 12 feet apart.

“The spirit of this order is that peaceful picketing is appropriate and necessary but that acts of vandalism and violence are not appropriate and not parts of peaceful picketing,” Lewin said. His order will remain in effect until a June 12 hearing if the strike continues.

More students and teachers continued to trickle back to the classrooms Wednesday.

Student attendance rose to 305,029 at morning rolls, 4,085 more than on Tuesday, the district said. Wednesday’s figure is only slightly more than half of total enrollment.

The district also reported that 10,390 regular teachers were at work Wednesday, 390 more than the day before and 3,650 more than on May 15, when the strike began. But the union says about 20,000 teachers, librarians, nurses and counselors remain out of school.

Before Wednesday’s session began, Johnson said the union would accept a pay offer of a guaranteed 24% raise over three years and would be willing to compromise on some other issues.

Subject of Dispute

Whether the district ever made such a pay offer, either formally or informally, on Sunday has been the subject of dispute.

Before the latest negotiating session began, district spokeswoman Diana Munatones again emphasized that the district’s current offer over three years is 21.5% to 24%, depending on the state surplus. Although district officials claimed they had offered the guaranteed 24% Sunday when talks broke off in bitterness, that amount was not slated to be the first offer discussed Wednesday, Munatones said, because the union had rejected it Sunday.

“There is a possibility of a hard 24%, but that possibility has to come from the people sitting in that room,” she said. “All I know is that our formal position is a soft 24%.”

Johnson said he was willing to compromise on the docked pay. He said he would agree to half being paid back automatically and the rest earned back in extra duties if the 24% was on the table. Johnson also said there was room for compromise on the issues of the membership and power of proposed school governing councils, which would help decide scheduling and curricula.

According to the district’s chief negotiator, Dick Fisher, the district opposes paying teachers the full amount of the docked wages, which are estimated to be about $5 million, because it would encourage similar actions.

“It’s not a question of money but whether the district should pay for a partial strike,” Fisher said. “They may still do it in the future but the district doesn’t want to reward it. To let them work it off is a big concession.”

Johnson acknowledged that hostilities of the last few days probably have ended a few friendships. “I don’t think there is any question,” he said, that school board member Jackie Goldberg, Supt. Leonard Britton and Weintraub “hold an intense personal dislike for me.”

Expresses Own Feelings

“I will tell you honestly, I’m not crazy about them and wouldn’t want to have dinner with them. . . . So much water has gone under the bridge. But I think we can work together on a professional level.” Johnson conceded that his recent words about district officials may have been too personal “and not enough on a philosophical level” and said that he still regards many district officials as “decent, reasonable” people.

In a related matter, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley offered Wednesday to mediate the strike should it continue, an offer he made several times earlier during the 15 months of maneuvering over the teachers’ contract.

One of the first outward signs that a compromise could be near came about midnight Tuesday at Gate 2 of the San Francisco Airport.

After missing the last flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles because the talks with legislators had gone on longer than expected, district representatives took a short flight from Sacramento to San Francisco, where they could make a Los Angeles-bound flight.

Johnson and his aides were given a ride to the San Francisco Airport by a security guard who was on duty at the state Capitol. The two sides met at the gate, where Weintraub and Johnson sat back-to-back on plastic airport lounge chairs.

Union official Enola Henry motioned district negotiator Fisher over to her side. The two talked briefly about one of the issues separating the two sides. It seemed the problem was wording of one sentence.

“The area of difference is so narrow,” Fisher said.

Henry answered, “I know. Let me sleep on it. I bet I can come up with something.”