Teacher strike resumes Monday
Teachers across the Capistrano Unified School District will return to the picket lines Monday morning for a third day of striking, after district officials and teachers union leaders failed to reach a settlement Sunday in a bitter pay cut dispute.
Talks ran from 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday, with a dinner break in between. Negotiations were scheduled to resume at 11 a.m. Monday.
"Talking is more positive than not talking," the union said in a statement Sunday.
District and union bargaining teams have met for four consecutive days – about 22 hours in all – even as hundreds of Capistrano teachers walked the picket lines in front of their schools Thursday and Friday.
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 upfront.
The strike has crippled programs and services across Capistrano Unified and pushed student attendance rates down to about 30 percent, including as low as about 10 percent at the high schools.
Contact the writer: 949-454-7394 orsmartindale@ocregister.com
