LAUSD, UTLA Stalemate Continues As Teachers' Strike Looms

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The president of United Teachers Los Angeles said a proposal by the LAUSD is "inadequate for many reasons" following a bargaining meeting Monday.

"The first thing that was a problem with LAUSD's proposal is that it continues to make a salary increase, the 3 percent in 17-18 and the 3 percent in 18-19, it continues to make that 6 percent contingent on cutting healthcare for future employees. Which is not a good idea when you've got a teacher shortage," said Alex Caputo-Pearl. "Second reason that the district's proposal today was unacceptable is that it proposes to raise class sizes up to 39 students in elementary school and up to 46 students in secondary school."

Caputo-Pearl also claimed the proposal "continues to not take seriously the issue of privatization and unregulated charter growth, which is undermining the public school district to the tune of about $600 million per year."

The union will be in court Tuesday to defend its right to strike, if need be, and will be back at the bargaining table Wednesday morning in a last-ditch effort to avert a walkout Thursday.

LAUSD said its leaders presented a new proposal to UTLA that would have added nearly 1,000 additional teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians, which the union rejected.

LAUSD also tweeted Monday – immediately following a press conference by UTLA – that its offer to the union had been increased by $75 million, totally "$105 million to help reduce class size and add nearly 1,000 more teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians" to schools.

Some 600,000 Los Angeles Unified School District students returned to class Monday as the LAUSD's first teachers' strike since 1989 looms.

UTLA bargaining chair Arlene Inouye said Jan. 4 the union hopes to see a "real offer that addresses all of our issues. They'll try to make this about salary. It is not."

On Jan. 3, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he believed a teacher strike was "inevitable," but Caputo-Pearl said the union was committed to working toward a resolution of the labor dispute.

"We are going into Monday trying to reach an agreement, so we certainly don't think that a strike is inevitable," he said at the time. "... That said, we are ready to strike if we have to ... Yes, we're going to try to negotiate and avert a strike."

On Jan. 2, LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner accused the union of refusing to engage in further negotiating sessions – an accusation the union flatly denied. The union accused Beutner of trying to negotiate through the media and attempting to subvert the bargaining process by sending a letter directly to UTLA members.

The union reached out last week to a district labor negotiator to say "that our bargaining team is available to meet on Monday if the district has a legitimate and clear offer for us to consider."

In response, LAUSD issued a statement saying, "We welcome UTLA's willingness to return to contract negotiations to avoid a strike that would do nothing to increase funding for public education or would only hurt the students, families and communities most in need. Los Angeles Unified remains committed to doing everything possible to avoid a strike and provide Los Angeles students with the best education possible."

The start date for the strike depends, in part, on Beutner's third attempt to get an injunction based on alleged "insufficient notice of intent to strike" – an assertion union officials are calling "unsubstantiated" and "disingenuous."

If the school district succeeds with the injunction, it could delay the strike by a few days, Caputo-Pearl said.

"He (Beutner) is desperate to contain our collective power and the only way he knows how to do it is through costly legal maneuvers," the union president said.

The two sides have been negotiating for nearly two years without coming close to a resolution. They've already gone through mediation and a fact-finding session in recent months. The fact finder's report was issued last month, and it sparked more verbal sparring between the two sides.

The district insisted last week that its most recent contract offer to the union incorporates many of the recommendations including in the fact-finding report, such as a 6 percent pay raise, a $30 million investment in hiring of professional staff and reducing class sizes and elimination of a section of the labor agreement that the union claims would allow the district to unilaterally increase class size.

UTLA officials said many elements of the district's latest offer remain "unclear," suggesting that the 6 percent salary increase still appears to be contingent on cuts to future union members' health care and contending the offer also appears to maintain the contract section allowing increases in class size. The union is also continuing to push for increased district investment in hiring of counselors, nurses, librarians and other professional staff, saying the $30 million proposed by the district would have a negligible impact on only a small percentage of LAUSD campuses.

The union has been pushing the district to tap into an estimated $1.8 billion reserve fund to hire more staff and reduce class sizes. LAUSD claims the staffing increases being demanded by the union would cost an estimated $786 million a year, further depleting a district already facing a $500 million deficit.

The district filed federal court papers Thursday in hopes of preventing teachers who serve special-education students from taking part in a strike, noting that the district's special-ed programs are monitored under a federal consent decree. The union decried the move, saying the district was "using our most vulnerable students as pawns."

A federal judge denied that claim Jan. 4.

The union has also blasted the district for hiring an estimated 400 substitute teachers who can be brought in if a strike does occur. Caputo-Pearl said the union believes the move is illegal and will do little to allay the impact of a teachers' strike.

"There are 600,000 students, and hiring 400 substitutes is not going to do a lot," he said.District and union leaders are scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. at LAUSD's downtown headquarters 333 S. Beaudry Ave. The meeting had been tentatively scheduled to take place at City Hall at the invitation of Mayor Eric Garcetti, who last week said he was offering it as a neutral place where the parties could meet. But LAUSD announced this morning that the meeting would be at its headquarters.

Garcetti told the Los Angeles Times that he had not been invited into the room with the parties but that he was prepared to participate in any way that would be helpful. However, The Times also reported that UTLA rejected the idea of holding negotiations at City Hall.

"Los Angeles Unified appreciates Mayor Eric Garcetti's offer to hold the meeting at City Hall and believes the involvement of the mayor's team would  encourage the bargaining to move forward in good faith," LAUSD said in a statement.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)