Striking union calls trustees 'inconsistent'
Capistrano Unified’s teachers union on Monday accused the school board of being “a roadblock to agreement” in a five-day-old strike standoff, a charge district trustees vehemently deny but which could explain why more than 23 hours of negotiations have yielded no settlement.
In a statement released Monday, union leaders criticized the district for its “shifting parameters and lack of consistent direction from the board” to explain why hundreds of teachers are walking the picket lines for a third day.
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“We are submitting a thorough and responsible proposal this morning,” Capistrano Unified Education Association Bargaining Chairwoman Sally White said in the statement. “Our team has gone as far as we can and now it’s up to at least four board members to do the right thing for students, teachers, and this community and end this strike.”
School board President Anna Bryson denied that trustees had been in any way inconsistent in their direction to the district’s negotiating team, stressing that talks were continuing and an agreement would be reached eventually.
“When we passed our resolution (to impose a 10.1 percent pay cut on teachers), we were consistent, and we continue to be consistent,” Bryson said. “In conversations, people can come to a point of agreement, and I feel certain that as we talk, there will be a moment when people will be comfortable with a point of resolution.”
District and union bargaining teams were meeting Monday for the fifth consecutive day – more than 23 hours of negotiations in all – even as teachers returned for their third day of picketing.
Capistrano's teachers union says the district – Orange County's second largest, with 2,200 teachers – has failed to make a "clear, unambiguous offer" to settle some final terms of a 10.1 percent pay cut imposed on teachers last month.
Capistrano's teachers union isn't fighting the imposed pay cut itself, but is demanding that it have an automatic expiration date and that it be restored if the district receives additional, "unforeseen" funding over the next 15 months, among other demands.
The school district has offered to discuss the demands, but argued it couldn't legally agree to them up front.
CITY MARCH
As the talks continued behind closed doors Monday, an estimated 500 Capistrano Unified teachers and supporters gathered at San Clemente’s North Beach for a march from the beach through town.
The line of marchers stretched nearly 10 blocks as they walked more than three miles toward downtown San Clemente along El Camino Real. Most of the marchers came from San Clemente’s schools. Marchers