380 Teachers Join Sickout at Orange Unified District

About 380 teachers in the Orange Unified School District staged a sickout Thursday, disrupting classes in 30 of the system’s 37 schools.

And labor unrest continued to threaten other Orange County school districts Thursday as teacher unions in two districts--Huntington Beach and Westminster--announced that they would hold one-day strikes May 11, the state’s official Day of the Teacher.

Teachers’ unions from two districts--Magnolia in Anaheim, and Orange--said they were considering similar actions.

A union official said union representatives from the four districts--which have about 1,800 teachers--met recently to discuss the joint strike.

In Orange on Thursday, school district spokeswoman Josie Cabiglio said 384 of the district’s 1,100 teachers did not report for work. The schools hardest hit were El Modena High School, with 57 teachers out, Orange High School, with 38 teachers out, and Villa Park High School, with 27 teachers out. No classes were canceled.

Cabiglio said all classes not covered by substitute teachers or administrators were combined with other classes.

This is the second sickout in the district in the last two weeks. In addition, Orange teachers staged a one-day strike April 12 to protest the lack of a pay raise agreement after almost 14 months of negotiations.

Mark Rona, president of the Orange Unified Educators Assn., said Thursday’s sickout was not sanctioned by the union. However, Rona said he was not surprised by the teachers’ actions.

“Everything’s up in the air,” he said. “It’s just about out of our hands. (The union) is not controlling it anymore. The members are.”

Rona said that union and district officials met Tuesday and that nothing was resolved.

Orange teachers will meet next week, he said, to decide if they will participate in a joint strike May 11. “It’s up to the members,” Rona said.

John Ikerd, superintendent of the Orange Unified School District, said that if a strike occurs, the district will be ready.

“We are working to ensure adequate coverage of all classes,” Ikerd said. A strike “will be difficult for us. We hope it doesn’t happen.”

Meanwhile, officials of the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Assn. and the Westminster Teachers Assn. said a one-day strike will be called May 11. Teachers in the Anaheim-based Magnolia School District will meet today to decide what action they will take.

Judy Thomas, director of the Magnolia Educators Assn., said that union leaders from the four districts had met recently to discuss a joint strike and that “there’s more than a pretty good chance” that Magnolia teachers will strike.

“The district doesn’t seem to consider our concerns and our problems a priority item,” Thomas said. Although union and district officials are in constant contact, she said, the last time they officially met was in March, and no date has been set for any future meetings.

Magnolia School District officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

A fifth district--the Newport-Mesa Unified School District--has not settled its contract dispute with teachers.

However, the Newport-Mesa teachers’ union is not affiliated with the California Teachers Assn. and is not planning to join the proposed strike, said Phyllis Pipes, president of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers.

Cabiglio said a one-day strike could pose some problems for the district.

“It would certainly put us in dire straits as far as finding substitute teachers,” she said. “But the bottom line is: Who are we really hurting here, the district or the students?”

The issues behind the five contract disputes are:

- In the Orange Unified School District, teachers are seeking a 3.5% raise for this school year and a 6.3% raise for next year. In addition, the teachers want a guarantee that the district will continue to pay all costs of health-and-welfare benefits. District officials have offered a 2.54% raise for the current year and a 3.76% raise for next year. As for health-and-welfare benefits, the district has agreed to pay costs for the current year but only up to $3,622 per teacher next year.

In the Anaheim-based Magnolia School District, the union is seeking an 8% pay raise retroactive to Sept. 1, 1987. The district’s last offer was a 2.5% pay boost.

In the Westminster School District, the Teachers Assn. is demanding a 6% pay raise. The district’s last offer was a 2.54% pay increase for the current school year.

In the Huntington Beach City School District, the union is seeking a 4% pay raise retroactive to July 1, 1987, and a 2% pay increase retroactive to Feb. 1. The district has offered a 3.5% pay increase.

- In the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, teachers are demanding a 5% pay increase. The district has yet to make an offer.