ORANGE : School Employees Now Have Contract

Non-teaching employees in the Orange Unified School District are now working under their first contract since the 1992-93 school year.

Union members ratified the contract last week and the Board of Education gave its approval Tuesday night.

The 138-96 vote by the employees accepted a contract that included no raises, small, onetime cash bonuses and an October, 1995, expiration date, said Becky Mayers, president of Chapter 67 of the California School Employees Assn.

“We recommended a ‘yes’ vote but nobody on the negotiating team was doing back flips over the whole thing,” Mayers said. “But it’s time to move on.”

The CSEA represents 1,160 employees, with about 600 dues-paying members. They have been working under a contract that was unilaterally imposed by the school board in March.

A 10-day strike by employees in May failed to win the union any concessions on that contract. Workers have not had a pay raise since 1988 and the 1992-93 contract included a 2.59% pay cut.

The new contract was voted down last month because of an insurance liability clause, Mayers said. That clause remains but the district agreed to not pursue any civil suits against the union for breaking a “no-strike” clause in May.

The contract does include some pluses for employees. If workers have insurance coverage elsewhere--through spouses, for example--they can get half of their premium payment back from the district in cash, Mayers said.

Insurance deductions for dependents were reduced from $87 to $25 and that is retroactive until Oct. 1.