ANAHEIM : Sick-In at Schools Follows a Sickout

Hundreds of clerical workers and other non-teaching employees of the Anaheim City School District decorated their work clothes Tuesday with bandages, armbands and ribbons to express displeasure with the district’s contract offer.

The symbolic sick-in was a means of airing concerns without disrupting school, said Judy Anderson, a spokeswoman for California School Employees Assn. members in the district.

Last week, a spontaneous sickout left many schoolchildren without bus drivers Wednesday morning, when about 100 employees did not come to work.

Supt. Meliton Lopez said Tuesday’s protest had no effect on work or classes, even though more than half of the district’s 700 non-teaching employees wore at least one protest symbol.

A state mediator held a second meeting Tuesday with representatives on both sides of the dispute, but no agreement was reached.

The employees and the district have been at odds over the new contract since June. A main point of disagreement is wage increases, with the district offering a 6% increase and workers holding out for 7%.