Dec. 7, 2018 — The Los Angeles Unified School District filed an unfair labor practice charge against UTLA for directing teachers to boycott school faculty meetings. The charge was filed with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the state agency charged with overseeing compliance with school district labor relations matters.
The purpose of school faculty meetings is to help students. Faculty meetings are generally held weekly at each local school and are a critical component of planning and instruction. The meetings allow for school staff to be together to coordinate the planning and delivery of instruction, to solve problems, to engage in a dialogue designed to enhance educational programs and to ensure all students get the education they deserve.
UTLA’s boycott is designed to pressure Los Angeles Unified to accept UTLA’s contract demands, including a demand for hundreds of millions of dollars in wages that would push the District into insolvency and cause major layoffs. This boycott was not only unlawful, it was also in violation of a prior PERB order directly ordering UTLA not to engage in the precise boycott of faculty meetings that UTLA has incited.
In addition to filing an unfair practice charge, the District has asked PERB to open a compliance investigation into UTLA’s violation of the prior PERB order and will ask PERB to take appropriate corrective action, including possible contempt proceedings.