FOCUS: ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY NEWS : ORANGE

The Public Employment Relations Board has accused the teachers union of bargaining in bad faith after reviewing a complaint by the Orange Unified School District. Contract negotiations between the district and the union, Orange Unified Education Assn., started in March 1998 and have been at an impasse for about eight months.

According to the board’s statement, the union acted in bad faith because it refused to support a tentative contract after it negotiated terms and then-President Suzanne Vaugine pledged her support. This action is in violation of government code, according to the board. A judge will now schedule an informal conference to settle the matter.

“The PERB ruling flies in the face of PERB’s own precedents, which have consistently held that a district cannot interfere in the internal affairs of an association,” John Rossmann, union president, said in response to the decision.