No Teacher Strike--for Today

Orange Unified teachers abruptly called off plans for a two-day walkout scheduled to begin today in the district’s lengthy contract dispute, but union leaders would not specify reasons Tuesday night for the about-face.

Bill Shanahan, executive director of the Orange Unified Education Assn., would not comment on why the union decided to cancel the first day of the job action. Union leaders will decide today, he said, whether to advise teachers to stay out Thursday.

A district official, however, speculated that the union may not have had enough teacher backing for the walkout.

“I suspect that what’s happened is that they do have the support to do things like picket, but the support just isn’t there to go on strike,” district spokesperson Judith Frutig said.

Though the walkout had already been approved by more than 60% of the union’s 1,600 members, a confirmation ballot was taken Tuesday, Shanahan said, but he would not reveal the results.

The union had planned protests for today and Thursday against the school board’s approval of a contract last month without union consent.

The teachers and school district have been wrangling over contracts for two years, and the board’s decision last month retroactively gave teachers an 8% pay increase for school years 1998 through 2000. The increase brings the annual salary for the most veteran teachers to $56,560.

The union asked for a pay scale starting at $32,000 for entry-level teachers, with a maximum of $63,980 for the most experienced educators.

The union’s recorded telephone hotline Tuesday night instructed teachers to report for a regular school session today and called for picketing outside campuses before classes begin.

Teachers are planning a rally at 3:30 p.m. today at Hart Park in Orange.

The district hired 849 substitute teachers to fill in during the walkout, which it expected to go forward until as late as 6 p.m. Tuesday, Frutig said.

After receiving notice of the change, the district’s human resources department notified substitutes that they do not need to report for work today.

The district offered $250 a day--more than twice its usual wage--to substitute teachers for the two-day period and hired a private security firm to place at least one uniformed guard on each of the district’s 42 campuses. Frutig said late Tuesday that no decision had been made about calling off the extra security.

A last-minute meeting Monday called by district officials in an attempt to prevent teacher absences ended with union negotiators walking out. The stalemate stemmed from the district’s refusal to submit the 1998-2000 contract for outside mediation as requested by the union bargaining team.

District officials are trying to negotiate a contract for the next academic year. Union representatives have said they will not begin that discussion until the 1998-2000 contract dispute is resolved.

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Walkout Updates

* Orange Unified School District’s hotline will be updated during the day with recorded information about the teacher walkout. The number is (714) 628-4210.

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To speak with district officials, parents can call the information center at district headquarters: (714) 628 4248.

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Background information about the ongoing contract disagreement between the school district and the teachers union is available at their respective Web sites:

https://www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us

https://www.orangeteachers.com