CDIR Update No. 10

May 12, 2009

CDIR Support Teachers Strike May 15: L.A. Unified goes to court to fight teachers strike

Los Angeles-- As the Los Angeles teachers girds for a strike on Friday, may 15, LAUSD officials said they will seek an immediate court injunction to stop Friday’s scheduled one-day teachers strike.

The Coalition to Defend Immigrant Rights (CDIR) and the Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC) supports the teachers strike on Friday and will march today, May 12 at the LAUSD building at 1:00 PM. They are also protesting the lay-off of more than 4,500 teachers by June 2009.

The LA Times today, May 12 said: "expected Tuesday morning filing in L.A. Superior Court is part of a two-pronged legal strategy by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Last week, in its first move, the school system filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employment Relations Board in Sacramento. That action, too, could lead to a court injunction ordering a halt to the strike.

But the employment board might not act in time to stop the strike, or it might simply decide against intervening."

Teacher's Strike May 15

“We’ve decided to go to court tomorrow morning to directly seek a temporary restraining order against the strike,” said district general counsel Roberta Fesler. “Time is of the essence.”

The school system also unsheathed a weapon in the public-relations war over the looming strike. Officials said that about a third of teachers at Verdugo Hills High have elected to cross picket lines if necessary and donate that day’s salary to the cost of retaining teachers at risk of being laid off.

Nearly three-quarters of the teachers who cast ballots favored the strike. But a majority of teachers overall either did not vote or voted against the one-day walkout.

Teachers Strike May 15

Meanwhile, organizers said the purpose of the action is to protest teacher layoffs and the campus disruptions that would result because of increasing class sizes and because many teachers would have to switch schools. More than 2,500 teachers are at risk of being laid off, as are about 2,600 non-teaching employees.

Employee unions have urged the school system to use as much of its federal economic stimulus money as necessary to save jobs now.

But according to them, district officials have insisted on splitting the money between the 2008-09 and the 2009-10 school years because each is expected to be economically dire. They say jobs can be spared if employees agree to wage concessions, such as unpaid furlough days.

In a related budget move today, the LA times reported that L.A. Unified announced an early-retirement incentive for non-teachers. The union representing these workers supports this initiative.

A similar plan for teachers has netted nearly 1,400 participants, which has reduced the number of anticipated layoffs.

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