Unions Press L.A. Unified for Pay Hikes

Los Angeles school employees stepped up their demands for a raise Tuesday, producing a budget analysis that identifies money to increase salaries while still leaving enough to pay for new services such as libraries and tutoring.

Facing some criticism of their request for a 4% increase on top of the 2% that they have received this year, the seven unions that represent the district’s 75,000 employees took a united stand to press their case.

They also threatened to use their considerable political clout to punish school board members who oppose them.

The unions are demanding a share of the state budget windfall that will give the district $60 million more than was expected this year. They want to reopen their three-year contract, which gave them a 6% pay raise last year and 2% this year, plus another 2% due next year.

An additional 4% pay raise would cost the district $108 million a year.

The unions contend that the contract negotiated last year was not enough to make up for the voluntary pay cuts totaling 10% that employees took during the recession in the early 1990s.

“This is not a pay raise,” said Eli Brent, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, the principals’ union. “This is repayment of a loan.”

Sensitivity to the employees’ sacrifices resulted in easy contract negotiations over the last few years. The district restored the cuts by the 1995-1996 school year, and the current contract added an additional 10% by the end of next year.

The latest request, however, comes at a time when the district faces increasing demands to improve student achievement and tie wage increases to accountability measures.

The board deferred a 6% raise for top administrators, pending improvement in several areas, including test scores and the number of limited-English-proficient students transferring into mainstream classes.

The Board of Education postponed a decision last week after Supt. Ruben Zacarias showed members a $54-million wish list of school improvements that he wants to make. The improvements include $11 million for ninth-grade class size reduction, $10 million for tutoring and $4.2 million for staff development.

District budget officials also said that about $24 million is needed to continue some programs that were launched last year.

The board is scheduled to make a decision Tuesday.