Sep 28, 2008 10:29 am US/Pacific
Teachers Union Threatens Strike If No Pay Raise
LOS ANGELES
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This month, the district and the teachers union reached an impasse in contract talks. In October a state mediator will seek a compromise between the two sides.
CBS
The head of the Los Angeles teachers union has threatened that there will be a strike early next year if the school district follows through with its plan to refuse pay raises, it was reported Sunday.
"(LAUSD is) looking at a strike in January or February," A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles told the Daily News.
Duffy said teachers' relatively low wages have led to a turnover rate of about 50 percent every seven years for teachers with less than 25 years' experience. And he called on the administrators union to question wage disparities between principals and teachers.
This month, the district and the teachers union reached an impasse in contract talks. In October a state mediator will seek a compromise between the two sides.
David Holmquist, LAUSD's chief operating officer, said that aside from the teachers, tentative agreements have been met, or negotiations are in progress, with the district's six other unions.
"This is a difficult year for us," Holmquist told the Daily News.
"It's not a good year for employees to look for incremental increases."
Michael O'Sullivan, president of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles union, said his group is not pushing for more pay this year. "It's one time when they say there's no money, and I think they're right," he told the Daily News.
"We don't pay our teachers enough, but that is not to be misconstrued as we pay our administrators too much," O'Sullivan said. "In the best of times, pay would be egalitarian, but what happens in the classroom is paramount."
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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