Sickout Disrupts Orange Unified Schools

Orange Unified School District operations were disrupted Friday when most of the district’s support and clerical staff staged a sickout to protest a breakdown in wage negotiations.

About 80% of the district’s 1,200 non-teaching employees--secretaries, bus drivers, custodians, child-care workers and others--refused to come to work Friday in the first action of its type that the California School Employees Assn. has taken against Orange Unified.

The sickout, which was well under way by the time classes began, sent district officials scrambling to fill vacant positions with students, administrators, private bus companies, parents and staff from other school districts.

As the action progressed, one CSEA official said the district’s headquarters had become a “graveyard” where officials were answering their own telephones.

“We were definitely affected, but I wouldn’t say we had any major problems,” said Tom Neill, a district spokesman. “There were a lot of inconveniences and a lot of people were given jobs they just don’t do.”

School district and union officials do not expect the sickout to continue Monday. The CSEA has encouraged its members to return to work, and contract negotiations have been rescheduled for Tuesday.

Classes Not Disrupted

Officials said the action did not disrupt classes throughout the district’s 38 schools, which have an enrollment of more than 26,000 students. Teachers did not participate in the sickout, but vowed not to help administrators perform the jobs of “sick” workers.

The district’s main concern Friday was the lack of clerical staff, which is responsible for a range of duties from answering telephones to helping in the day-to-day administration. Neill said more than 80% of the secretaries and administrative assistants called in sick.

Orange Unified minimized some of the sickout’s impact by hiring private bus companies to transport children, reassigning positions and preparing lunches for the school’s cafeterias a day early.

Custodial services, Neill said, were a low priority, but principals and teachers tried to keep school grounds as clean as possible. Virtually all the district’s child-care workers stayed off the job.

Members of the California School Employees Assn., which represents Orange Unified’s support staff, threatened the sickout Thursday after declaring a deadlock in negotiations for a new labor contract.

Disciplinary Action Threatened

The support staff’s contract prohibits strikes, work slowdowns or stoppages, and district officials warned employees Thursday that disciplinary actions could result. Union officials said they would deal with disciplinary procedures if the need arose.

Neill said there has been no indication any action will be taken.

“This is our first sickout,” said Bill Heath, a CSEA attorney. “We do not do something lightly. Our employees would not be in this business if they were not dedicated to the kids. I think the whole thing is symptomatic of Thursday’s bargaining session.”

Jim Walker, a CSEA field representative, said talks broke off because district negotiators dismantled an association proposal that would have reduced the cost of employee benefit packages without sacrificing benefits. Neill said employees wanted a 14.5% increase in pay and benefits while Orange Unified has offered 10%.

Jack Elsner, the district’s chief negotiator, said union officials stopped negotiating about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, although Orange Unified officials wanted to continue discussions. He and Walker said talks are set to resume Tuesday.

“Negotiations must go on,” Neill said. “We know how important these people are, and we want to come to a peaceful agreement. We want a happy settlement.”

Union officials said Friday they may bring in a mediator. No contract talks occurred Friday.

“The employees made their point. It was their action based on their feelings and I support their feelings,” Walker said. “I don’t think negotiations will be a pleasant experience next week. The ball is in their court.”

The district faced contract difficulties last year when teachers staged a seven-day strike after wage talks broke down the teachers’ union, the Orange Unified Education Assn. Mark Rona, a teacher at El Modena High School and the association’s treasurer, said differences developed over a similar 10% offer made by the district.