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TEACHERS IN CONTRACT DISPUTE MASS OUTSIDE DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS

With protest folk songs alternating with appreciations of union solidarity over a portable P.A. system, Morongo Unified School District teachers massed outside district headquarters on both sides of Utah Trail on Tuesday afternoon. Reporter Dan Stork was at the rally, and spoke with MTA representatives John Ferguson and Terry Weitz…

MTArally
Morongo Teachers Association members rally outside school district headquarters, heading into contract mediation.

Morongo Teachers Association bargaining chair John Ferguson reiterated the position the teachers have taken throughout the stormy negotiation period:

The state of California is benefiting by the economic upswing with increased tax revenues, and will be sending large amounts of money to school districts. The MTA wants to see more of that money going to improve the lot of teachers than the District has offered.

Ferguson described where the process goes from here:

“The first step is declaring impasse, the Public Employees’ Relation Board sends a mediator… He is an arbiter of sorts, to hear from both sides, and look at information, and attempt to bring a settlement about. If that’s unsuccessful, we go into a more research-oriented phase, where there’s some in-depth digging into the finances of the school district and such, moving toward a potential job action on the part of the union, which is a fancy way of saying strike. Let’s get rid of the euphemism.”

The mediation session is scheduled for today, May 27. During the rally, school Board president Karalee Hargrove mixed with the crowd, and called out her support for the teacher’s lot. Union head Terry Weitz told us that the classified employees union has not yet reached an agreement with the District, but their proposed contract has a “me-too” clause, which guarantees parity with any MTA contract.

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