97% YES Vote on New Contract
The union of educators at El Camino Real Charter High School (ECR-UTLA) voted 97% YES on Monday, February 17, 20205, to ratify a new contract agreement and end their strike, after a week where educators, parents, students, alumni, and other community members were out together on the picket line — a few of those days in the pouring rain. The ECR-UTLA bargaining team, made up of several educators from the school, reached a tentative agreement with ECR management on Sunday night.
“After a long week, we successfully reached an agreement where school management has committed to fairer wages and other wins that benefit our school community,” said Kate Rechner, a Special Education English teacher on the union’s bargaining team. “We’re looking forward to getting back into the classroom with our incredible students. We, alongside parents and students, are more united than ever and we will continue to fight for the school we envision ECR can be.”
“I’m very proud of this agreement, which was the result of incredible solidarity and our educator bargaining team’s ability to come up with creative solutions to provide fair on schedule raises for the next three years,” said Daniel Zatarain, a Science teacher and vice-chair of the bargaining team. “This contract respects educators and provides stability for our school and students.”
Educators plan to walk in united together at 7:45 AM tomorrow, before the start of the school day.
The agreement, that includes a salary increase of 19% over the course of three years, among other terms, was presented by the bargaining team to their fellow educators and colleagues for a formal vote this afternoon; it follows 18 months of negotiations with management. The El Camino Real Charter High School Board of Directors will formally vote to approve the contract at their next board meeting on February 27, 2025.
