TEACHERS BRACE FOR STRIKE UNION TAPS LEADER OF 1989 WALKOUT TO AID FIGHT FOR WAGE HIKE, REFORM.

Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN Staff Writer

Under mounting pressure for major reforms at Los Angeles schools, the teachers union has brought in its tough former leader to help mobilize members for a strike if its demands are not met.

United Teachers Los Angeles is hiring a former UTLA president, Wayne Johnson, who organized a successful nine-day strike in 1989 and wrangled a 24 percent pay raise over three years. Johnson later served as the hard-nosed president of the California Teachers Association and is now a consultant.

The move bolsters the UTLA's bid to organize the ranks behind a demand for a 9 percent pay raise, smaller classes and greater local control of schools.

But the agenda could be at odds with two forces: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a former UTLA organizer who is poised to assume substantial control over the district, and David Brewer III, newly selected superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Both have vowed to restructure the nation's second-largest school district.

UTLA President A.J. Duffy says he has mapped out a timeline of activities that include a strike vote in February and boycotts of student testing and faculty meetings in the spring.

``I asked Wayne to become a consultant to me and to UTLA because he, more than anyone else, understands what it takes to mobilize people, to coalesce people, and to carry out a successful strike and successful actions to portray (bureaucrats of) this district in the way they need to be portrayed -- a wasteful, overblown bureaucracy that is completely out of control,'' Duffy said.

``I'm telling teachers: Save your money. Pay off your credit cards. Don't overextend yourself. I think we're in for a monumental struggle because these people in the bureaucracy don't get it.''

Johnson, who led the UTLA from 1984 to 1991, will begin his job Wednesday as a special adviser focusing on contract negotiations.

In a written statement announcing his goal, Johnson said he intends to help Duffy make each classroom and campus a top funding priority for LAUSD.

``Forty-eight thousand teachers and health and human services professionals united to fight for kids and the classroom can't be stopped. Together with the UTLA leadership, I know we can do it,'' he wrote.

Memories

But some district officials say hiring Johnson is a signal that UTLA's leadership is weak, and leaders don't know what they are doing.

``They've realized they're operating on past memories of the good old days, when Johnson was president and negotiated and had a union behind him then -- a very organized union -- and he could rally the forces and go out and have a meeting where 10,000 teachers showed up,'' said a district official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

``Johnson valued his members. He valued his teachers. He made them feel valued.''

Johnson was able to secure 8 percent raises for three years in a row, but teachers took a 10 percent pay cut after the district hit financial dire straits in 1992.

Some say trust between the UTLA membership and leaders was recently shattered when Duffy secretly negotiated a deal with Villaraigosa over Assembly Bill 1381, which gives the mayor more control over the district and shifts power from the school board to the superintendent.

Rank-and-file teachers did not rally behind Duffy. When members finally took an advisory vote on the legislation, some 53 percent opposed it.

Duffy denies he is out of step with his membership and said he hired Johnson merely to strengthen the union's position.

``A good leader would be a fool to not fill his arsenal with every weapon possible before going into battle,'' he said.

And there's no question that Johnson is a weapon.

``He was a toughie. He was very, very, very tough,'' recalled former school board President Roberta Weintraub, who negotiated with Johnson in 1989.

``There was no question we were outflanked. He didn't back down on anything. He's a tough negotiator. He was a firebrand at that point. What I remember is he was a very strong negotiator, someone determined to get what he wanted to get -- at any cost.''

With Johnson part of the UTLA negotiating team, and the district with a new superintendent at the helm, Weintraub predicts negotiations will not be easy.

``I just pray there are no more strikes because it's so debilitating, so difficult to overcome,'' she said. ``They're never necessarily a benefit to anybody.''

And tensions could flare. Villaraigosa, a former labor leader, has vowed to hold firm on city workers' salaries, and one city employee union already has held a two-day work stoppage over his refusal to agree to pay demands.

Mayor hopeful

On Saturday, Villaraigosa said he hopes negotiations go well with the teachers union.

``Parties always start out staking out a position, but over time and with good faith, they can get to common ground,'' Villaraigosa said.

Duffy has made it clear that his goal during negotiations will be to bring teacher salaries near the top quartile of all salaries in Los Angeles County. < With the average salary of $56,652 annually, teachers say they are currently in the bottom quartile.

``My teachers are underpaid and work under the most adverse conditions,and still they raise the test scores,'' Duffy said. ``They proved their worth. They've done the job. It's about time to recognize them with a fair and decent pay raise.''

No response

Duffy noted that seven weeks have passed since he made his 9 percent pay-raise demand, and district officials still have not responded with a counteroffer.

``How dare they pay the superintendent $300,000 a year and perks when we have teachers who leave the profession in droves because they can't afford (to stay in) it?''

Kevin Reed, LAUSD's chief counsel, said there has been progress at the bargaining table, particularly on health benefits.

Management negotiators agreed for the district to fully fund health benefits, costing an additional $60 million, he said.

``It's unfortunate to hear Duffy adopt a warlike posture,'' Reed said. ``Duffy knows full well that there isn't money available for a 9 percent pay raise.''

Complications

Collective bargaining also will become more complicated if AB 1381 -- passed and signed but the target of a lawsuit -- takes effect, Reed said. While the school board will technically be in charge of collective bargaining, the superintendent will have more authority over the budget.

``I don't consider UTLA a threat,'' Reed said. ``There are going to be a lot of issues that have to be worked out between the board and superintendent with respect to how to make the budgetary aspect of the settlement fit.''

School board member David Tokofsky said he welcomes Johnson's return to UTLA but believes everyone needs to be realistic about district finances.

``If he brings an emphasis on reality, it's all the more welcome,'' Tokofsky said. ``If anybody thinks there's 20 percent to pay for salary benefits, class-size reduction and local control, to use Wayne Johnson's 1989 words: `They lie, they lie, they lie.'''

Duffy said there is money to meet teachers' demands if the district cuts its bureaucracy. His goal is for LAUSD and UTLA negotiators to come up with a plan to dismantle the bureaucracy.

``In order for us to drag this district into the 21st century, the bureaucrats need to understand that breaking the bureaucracy is a critical element,'' Duffy said.

He is scheduled to have dinner this week with Brewer -- a retired Navy admiral -- and plans to express his views and concerns.

Duffy said he also plans to question Brewer about statements last week that one of Brewer's first priorities will be to get ineffective teachers out of the classroom.

``The ball's going to be in his court. He's going to understand lingo that has to do with war. You can have war. You can have peace. It's entirely up to you,'' Duffy said.

``But he and the other people in the district need to understand that teachers are ... angry, and they want to be regarded as professionals, and they're not going to accept anything different.''

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com

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