Schools’ Clerical Staff Holds Sickout Over Possible Cuts

In a last-ditch protest to protect their jobs, clerical employees throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District launched a two-day sickout Tuesday to fend off possible budget cuts they fear could eliminate nearly 1,000 positions.

Representatives of the California School Employees Assn., which organized the protest, say most of their 4,700 workers called in sick or left schools and district offices during lunch. District officials said they believed that absences among classified employees numbered in the hundreds, rather than the thousands, but had no specific figures.

Association leaders said the primary reason for their action was to send a message to the Board of Education not to sacrifice their jobs in order to appease the teachers union, which has threatened to strike if deep pay cuts proposed for all employees come to pass.

“There’s a total lack of respect and knowledge for our duties, and we are angry,” said Pearl Hinnant, president of the CSEA’s Unit D, which includes the office workers. “It seems we do most of the work, yet when the ax falls down, we’re the ones who bear the burden. We are fighting for equity.”

The cry for equal treatment has been echoing throughout the district since school board members in June proposed cutting $247 million in employee pay to make up a $400-million budget shortfall. The board, which is considering pay reductions ranging from 4% to 12.5% for all employees, is expected to approve any additional cuts today when it adopts a final adjusted budget.

School board members have said they will not call for massive layoffs to reduce the proposed pay cuts, nor will they allow any employee group to suffer more than any other. But their pledge has done little to appease workers, who have launched campaigns and packed board meetings to fight the proposed reductions.

CSEA officials said the idea of a work action had been contemplated for the last two weeks. But planning intensified last week after the board asked district staff what the consequences would be of cutting various central offices and programs--reductions that would eliminate 800 to 1,000 clerical jobs, according to Hinnant.

The proposed pay cuts for this year have dropped from the original range of 6% to 16.5%, according to officials. The proposal was designed to take the biggest cuts out of the paychecks of the highest-paid employees and spare the lowest-paid as much as possible. The office workers would be asked to take pay cuts of 7.5% or 10%, according to the district. But CSEA representatives say they remain fearful the board will slash their jobs to further reduce the pay cuts.

CSEA officials are planning a rally at district headquarters today before the board’s vote.

Deputy Supt. Ruben Zacarias said Tuesday that though hundreds of office workers may have been absent, district offices and schools were able to continue operating with minimal problems. “We’ve been able to avoid any impact on the safety and welfare of children,” Zacarias said.

Zacarias added that participants in the sickout will not be paid unless they have a valid excuse that can be verified.

Board members reached Tuesday said the classified workers’ fears of massive layoffs are unwarranted.

“We are not willing to lay off dozens or hundreds of people to minimize pay cuts,” school board member Jeff Horton said. “It’s not going to happen.”

Board member Mark Slavkin, like Horton, said he could not guarantee that no layoffs will be necessary but reiterated that if any are ordered, they would be minimal. “I think there will be some additional cuts,” Slavkin said, “but it ought to be done in a way that’s fair, (and) in a way that doesn’t pit one group against another. . . . We remain committed to minimize layoffs.”

So far this fiscal year, 47 classified employees had been laid off, according to Jon Campbell, personnel director for the district.

The prospect of massive pay reductions has sparked unprecedented tensions among the district’s employees. UTLA has initiated a multifaceted campaign to fight the cuts and demand that officials slash administration and extracurricular programs before digging into employee paychecks.