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| Members of the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Association don black clothing and pink “unity” stickers. |
The Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Association reached an agreement with the Huntington Beach City Elementary San Diego district resulting in a contract offer May 21 that will give members in the small Orange County local a 3.5 percent across-the-board raise on their salary schedule, retroactive to July 1, 2007, plus health benefits maintained at the 2007-08 level.
The board’s offer came on the heels of a protest rally at a Huntington Beach City School District Board meeting May 20, attended by over 100 of the chapter’s 300- plus members and numerous community supporters. Wearing black clothing and pink “unity stickers,” they sang songs and chanted as they marched through the building while the board met. The rally was the culmination of concerted activities by HBETA through 14 unsuccessful bargaining sessions since last September.
“One of my goals as president of the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Association was to unify our members as a collective whole and get more teachers actively involved,” says Kathy Hogan.
Organizing team member Juliana McGrath says a clear communication strategy made the difference. “We held ‘flagpole’ meetings at visible school site locations every Tuesday morning, wearing black clothing and unity stickers, and conducted weekly ten-minute meetings to keep members informed.”
Teachers were given detailed lists of appropriate ways to support bargaining and guidelines for two weeks of “working to contract,” specifying voluntary duties that could be eliminated without impeding the academic process.
“Last time, we went to impasse and finally settled, only to learn the board had cut an earlier deal with the superintendent giving administrators 2 percent more than our settlement, plus a whopping raise for the superintendent,” says Organizing Committee chair Jan Mulholland. “We were determined it was going to be ‘No Business as Usual!’ this time.”
The contract, currently being ratified by HBETA members, runs through the 2009-10 school year.
Bill Guy
