ORANGE : Union Clashes With District on Benefits
Less than three weeks following a first-ever strike by non-teaching employees in the Orange Unified School District, union and district officials are still at odds over the amount of the union’s health benefits package.
Union officials say they have offered the district a new plan that would reduce annual insurance costs from $4.9 million to about $4.4 million. But the district--facing about a $2-million shortfall in its $107-million 1994-95 budget--says the union still needs to find approximately $130,000 more in savings.
The district and union officials ended talks last Thursday, and union officials seemed to have little hope this week of renewing discussions.
“It makes me sick,” said Becky Mayers, president of the California School Employees Assn., Chapter 67. “I wonder what it is they want from us.”
The union represents about 1,160 classified employees, including custodial, maintenance, clerical workers and bus drivers.
District officials say they want to keep channels open but insist the union must come up with the additional savings.
“We can’t deny the fact we have a shortfall,” said Jack Elsner, the district’s head of personnel.
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