Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/7398
gence. Worse yet when numerous Southern California local associ- ations — including the Alvord Educators Association in River- side County, the Southwest Teachers Association in San Di- ego County, and the Capistrano Unified Education Association — are seeing their school boards attempt to declare impasse after extremely brief and cursory surface bargaining. And the Saddleback Valley Educators As- sociation in Orange County is battling a district that threatened to impose a contract illegally be- fore negotiations had even officially begun. These four Southern California associations are taking a stand to protect the rights of teachers and provide the best possible education to California students. BELOW: Dec. 15 rally by approximately 1,500 members of the Capistrano Unified Education Association at the district office in San Juan Capistrano. Taking a stand in Southern California I t’s bad enough that even one CTA chapter has to face unfair bargaining table intransi- After a grueling 19-hour fact-finding session broke down with no settlement between the Capis trano Unified Education Association (CUEA) and the Cap istrano Unified School Dis- trict (CUSD) — on top of al- most five months of constant ef- forts by CUEA members to move the district toward a fair contract — you’d think the 2,100 south Orange County chapter members might at least consider throwing in the towel. If so, you’d be dead wrong. In spite of a litany of district efforts to derail negotiations, including “sham” bargaining, delaying tactics, and fudged financial records, CUEA mem- bers remain resolute and deter- mined to achieve a reasonable, responsible and respectful con- tract settlement. Although the neutral fact finder could come back with an acceptable resolu- t ion to the bargaining differences, CUEA members continue to organize, both among themselves and with parents through community outreach efforts, to be ready to do whatever it takes to stand up for their students and their profession. “We don’t want to strike, but we will!” was echoed by many of the 1,500 CUEA members who packed a CUSD board meeting on Dec. 15 to present a vote of no confidence in the district’s leadership. “It is clear to CUEA mem- bers that the district is using the current economic challenge to permanently reduce total compensation to employees — decreases that will last long af- ter this fiscal crisis has passed,” says CUEA President Vicki So- derberg. “They want a perma- nent reduction to the salary schedule and health premium caps that would unfairly in- crease employee contributions year after year.” CUSD figures indicate a bal- anced budget for 2009-10, and CUEA has attempted to offer several cost-saving suggestions to address potential shortfalls in 2010-11, but so far the dis- trict has ignored them. “This current bargaining situation is clearly not about how we can work together to weather the current economic challenges,” says Soderberg. “Rather, it’s about how the CUSD school board and interim superin- tendent can per- manently trans- form the district to the detriment of the educators, and more impor- tantly, the stu- dents they are working to edu- cate.” In Riverside, though Alvord Educators Asso- 26 California Educator | FEBRUARY 2010 ciation members recently saved the district $7 million by agree- ing to an early retirement incen- tive, “the district is demanding to further slash AEA members’ pay by almost 19 percent over the next three years through a series of salary cuts and budget cut furlough days,” says AEA President Gary Hardgrave. “We understand that we are living in touchy economic times — and AEA has offered to consider op- tions that could help save the district money — but we’re not going to stand for them trying to finance the district solely on educators’ backs!” In an effort to offer the South Bay United School District bud- get solutions, the Southwest Teachers Association put forth a proposal that would have saved the district approximately $1.5 million. “Despite the proposal offered, the board continues to demand drastic, unreasonable cuts in both salary and benefits,” says Laura Wood, president of the southern San Diego County chapter. “SWTA firmly believes we all need to work together to solve potential financial prob- lems, and we remain ready and willing to do our part. It’s the board that is trying to impose harsh conditions and then walk away from the table, but we’re not going to stand for it.” In Orange County, having agreed to come to the table for 2009-10 at the beginning of Janu- ary, the Saddleback Valley Educa- tors Association (SVEA) was faced with a district that appeared displeased with them from the start. SVEA members weren’t even given an opportunity to be- gin negotiations before an unfair labor practice charge was filed Continued on page 32 CTA photo by Bill Guy