Teachers Union Gets Final Contract Offer

Officials of Orange Unified School District said Friday that they have made their final contract offer to the 1,200-member teachers union.

Negotiations began in July. Teachers have been working without a contract since then.

District trustees have been at odds with the union over retiree health benefits. School officials maintain that the district could be liable for more than $150 million in benefits that have no funding. In a worst-case scenario, administrators said, the situation could bankrupt the district.

Union leaders have contended that the unfunded retiree liability figures are inflated. They maintain that the district has been using the issue to drive a wedge between younger teachers and their more experienced colleagues.

Negotiations continued late Thursday night, and district administrators released a brief statement Friday: “Negotiators for the Orange Unified School District presented a last, best and final proposal to the bargaining committee of the Orange Unified Education Assn.,” the statement read.

The district has offered a tiered pay system with salary increases of up to 19% for teachers who agree to waive their retirement health benefits. The union is requesting a standard single-tier salary schedule with raises averaging 7%.

District negotiators said they are ready to bring in a state mediator, but David Reger, president of the teachers union, said the union’s negotiating team is not conceding an impasse.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re still negotiating,” he said.