After organizing a protest outside El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills, educators with United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) could go on strike if a contract agreement is not reached with the administration.
On Thursday, Oct. 10, before school hours, about a third of El Camino High’s teachers protested the administration’s failure to meet their needs, including better pay. Some parents joined them in support of the teachers.
Teachers have been working under an expired contract since July 1. However, they still have to complete their contractually obligated hours, meaning there can be no work stoppages at this time. This is also why only a third of union teachers had time to join the public protest, as some teachers have to start as early as 7 a.m. – school hours begin at 8:30 a.m.
Daniel Zatarain, science teacher and UTLA chapter co-chair said the union has been bargaining with El Camino High since August 2023.
“There’s a few other things around contract language like discipline and health care, but [better pay] was the main issue that we’ve been going back and forth on … for longer than a year now,” Zatarain said. “The most recent picketing was a culmination to show management essentially where the staff stands, where the community stands, where folks stand on the issues and also to inform the community about potential disruptions.”
Teachers have had an agreement with the school since 2011 when they voted to disconnect from the LA Unified School District (LAUSD). As an incentive to take this action, the school promised to pay teachers 6% above the district’s median salary.
In the 2022-23 school year, LAUSD teachers negotiated a 21% pay increase in their contract.
“The main issue we run into is teacher retention, and with the most recent contract they [LAUSD teachers] got, we were kind of blindsided,” Zatarain said. “We lost a lot of teachers to LAUSD and other schools because the pay wasn’t as competitive.”
El Camino High educators tried to negotiate a salary increase, but the administration didn’t want to adhere to the terms of their previous contract agreement to provide a better salary than LAUSD teachers receive.
In August, the teachers took a strike authorization vote and 93% of UTLA members voted yes; 96% of certified educators at the school are with the union. And in less than 30 days, teachers could very well go on strike.
The day after the picket, UTLA and El Camino High engaged in a process called fact-finding – they brought in a neutral third party to find the facts of the dispute and make its ruling with the California Public Employment Relations Board.
The neutral party has 30 days to make its ruling, although it’s nonbinding – neither El Camino High nor UTLA have to accept it. After the report comes out, if the administration still hasn’t given a proposal that teachers agree with, then educators can go on strike.
The general sentiment among teachers, Zatarain described, is that they have been disrespected by the administration. El Camino High has a “storied reputation,” he said, which many teachers feel is attributed to the school reneging on its commitments.
“I’ve only been at this school for four years … and this is the first time I’ve seen where everyone’s very fired up,” Zatatrain said. “More people are showing up to actions, wearing pins, wearing their colors. They feel that they deserve this commitment from management, and they really feel that the only way that we can get that commitment is if we work together and show how much we’re worth and show that the community supports us.”
The picket hasn’t been the only action teachers have taken, though. Carlos Monroy, English teacher and UTLA chapter co-chair said that a few months ago, 60 teachers showed up to a board meeting to express their frustrations and struggles in the current financial climate. One teacher pointed to college-educated staff who can’t afford to move out of their parents’ homes.
“There’s a history in this country of administrators exploiting the altruistic and good nature of educators because they know we’ll do it,” Monroy said. “I’ve got bills to pay. I have to take care of myself so I’m not stressed out … so I can be fully present for my students every day.”
While Monroy said that El Camino High did engage UTLA in collective bargaining, many of the teachers’ proposals kept getting rejected. UTLA described the school’s response as “low balling” teachers.
“All of our proposals are reasonable and based on their projections and the numbers [are based on what] they provide to us and are publicly made available,” said Monroy. “The cost of living in Southern California for anyone is very expensive, and it’s important that we take care of educators.”
While there can’t be any work stoppages at this time, Monroy said that all escalating actions are still on the table. He emphasized the importance of the administration seeing how upset and frustrated its teachers are – that they feel as if they’re being disregarded. They find it disheartening that it appears the school isn’t committed to retaining its new or experienced staff.
“Being a teacher of over 22 years and working with students with special needs, my job not only is to be an expert in my content area … but also to be a caretaker for my students and whatever they need,” Monroy said. “The fact that administrators don’t recognize that and are unwilling to demonstrate it with a real financial commitment to the teachers is pretty unacceptable.”
The San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol contacted El Camino Real Charter School administration for comment but by press time received no response.
Why leave out current salary versus the salary demands?