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Following the most recent bargaining session last Thursday, the teachers’ union, UTLA, has reportedly rejected a pay increase offer from LA Unified negotiators that fell short its goal of a 10 percent salary increase.
The latest district offer included a 2 percent salary increase retroactive to July 1, a 2 percent lump-sum payment based on 2013-14 earnings and a 2 percent one-time payment for the 2014-15 school year to be paid at the end of this school year, according to a district press release.
The offer was essentially a one-year deal on salary at the same rate the district is paying other labor partners, and the district asked UTLA to accept the deal immediately and agree to continue negotiating on non-salary issues and pay beyond the fiscal year, which ends July 1.
Aside from a salary increase, UTLA also is seeking a reduction in class size, an end to “teacher jail,” and other concessions. The union’s demands are outlined in the Schools LA Students Deserve campaign.
UTLA also rejected the idea of piecemealing out the union’s contract issues, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
“We’re committed to fight around that package of issues, and we’re not going to separate things out one by one,” UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl told the paper.
When negotiations began four months ago, the district was offering a 2 percent raise while UTLA sought an increase of 17.6 percent over to years. UTLA has since changed its goal to a 10 percent raise over one year.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Dec. 16.
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