Los Angeles Unified’s teachers union faces test of organizing strength
| Pressman Jonathan Verduzco shows off one of the several hundred posters that will be tacked onto pickets when teachers go to the picket line. United Teachers Los Angeles was busy printing signs Tuesday to protest for better wages and working conditions later this week. Los Angeles, CA February 24, 2015. (Photos by John McCoy / Los Angeles Daily News) |
The print shop below United Teachers Los Angeles’ headquarters cranked out 7,500 signs for protestors to carry when they descend on downtown Thursday, demanding higher pay, fewer students per classroom and better working conditions.
Union leadership is calling for “tens of thousands” of teachers to rally at Grand Park from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in a demonstration of strength promising that 35,000 educators will strike, shutting down schools should Los Angeles Unified fail to offer acceptable terms.
UTLA outlined its contract terms in a union campaign called “The Schools LA Students Deserve.” Smaller classes, better pay and more staff — teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians — are just a few issues UTLA is using to build membership support.
“We are going to be making sure literature gets out to everyone who’s there, so they can be in contact with the school board and superintendent, pressing them to reach an agreement in support of the Schools LA Students Deserve,” said Alex Caputo-Pearl, UTLA president.
UTLA took its first official step toward meeting the legal requirements to strike last week, when they declared negotiations with LAUSD had reached an “impasse.” The state’s labor board will consider calling in a mediator. If the two sides still can’t come to terms, a fact-finding panel will be formed. Recommendations made by the panel are non-binding.
Los Angeles Unified School District officials estimate the two sides remain apart by more than $800 million a year. UTLA wants an 8.5 percent salary hike, while LAUSD is offering a 5 percent bump. The majority of costs is in increased staffing levels. The district estimates adding the teachers, counselors and other staff needed to meet the union’s demands would cost $525 million more than the district’s $26 million offer to reduce class sizes.
Superintendent Ramon Cortines said last week he doesn’t believe the district can afford to offer any more money as it faces a projected deficit of nearly $160 million in the fiscal year that starts July 1. In hopes of balancing the budget, Cortines has asked every department to cut between 7 percent and 10 percent. The recurring cost of employees — paychecks and benefits — will be a priority for reducing the deficit, Cortines said. LAUSD expects to send out a first round of pink slips next month.
Caputo-Pearl has called Cortines’ budget outlook a “scare tactic.” Revenues are increasing under a funding formula started by the state on July 1. Additionally, those revenues have been revised and are expected to be even higher by the time a budget is Los Angeles Unified’s teachers union faces test of organizing strength: