The San Francisco public school teachers’ union has overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike, with 97 percent of those who voted backing the proposal — a move that ups the ante in long-running, contentious contract negotiations with the San Francisco Unified School District.
Three unions with workers in the school district have now authorized strikes or are seeking to do so, creating the prospect of simultaneous walkouts by teachers, custodians, metalworkers, and others.
The United Educators of San Francisco union represents some 6,500 teachers across the district. From 4 to 9 p.m. yesterday at Balboa High School in the Excelsior, more than 3,000 of them waited in hour-long lines to vote. It was a festive atmosphere, complete with pizza and even a band and dancers.
This vote does not guarantee a walkout, however. That would require a second vote, which could be called for in a week or two, depending upon progress at the bargaining table. It is possible that teachers could be striking before Halloween.
Clearly such a move would paralyze the school district, as happened in Oakland earlier this year when teachers walked off the job for two weeks, eventually winning many of their demands.
The San Francisco teachers’ union, for its part, declared it was unsatisfied with the district’s proposals.
“We cannot agree to what the district currently has,” said Cassondra Curiel, the union’s president, announcing the results on Thursday afternoon outside the school district’s headquarters. “We will make that known, and over 50 percent of our members have made it clear that that’s our charge.”
Coming just a week after SEIU 1021, the union for school custodial, cafeteria and other staff, voted 99.5 percent to authorize its own strike, the two votes mean that as much as 90 percent of staff across the school district have authorized potential strikes, said union officials.
“We stand 100 percent behind our teachers,” said Rafael Picazo, the president of SEIU 1021’s chapter for school staff, speaking on Thursday. SEIU 1021, which is in the middle of its own stalled contract negotiations, has not yet decided whether to walk out. Unlike the teachers, that would not require a second vote.
A third labor group, the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, on Wednesday sought its own strike authorization against the school district. The union represents approximately 80 metalworkers, carpenters, locksmiths, and other tradespeople in schools.
It asked its parent union on Wednesday to authorize a two-day strike, saying the union has “frankly, little faith” the two sides will reach an agreement without one.
The three unions could walk out at the same time if negotiations fail. The teachers’ union will be back at the bargaining table on Monday, while SEIU 1021 is negotiating with the district today. The building trades union is no longer negotiating, seeking a third-party mediator instead.
The San Francisco school district, in a brief statement, said it was “working diligently and in good faith to reach an agreement with our labor partners,” and emphasized “responsibly stewarding public funds” and making financial decisions that “most directly benefit student experiences.”
“We recognize that there might be concerns and questions about potential impact of escalated labor action given the recent attention on strike authorization votes,” the statement read.
The vote comes a week after the school district proposed what it called a “historic contract package” in a bid to head off any walkout. The school district agreed to $10,000 across-the-board raises for teachers this year, four percent raises next year — if certain budget conditions are met — and a $30 minimum wage for non-credentialed faculty, alongside other changes.
The teachers’ union had asked for $12,000 raises, 7.5 percent increases next year and the $30 minimum wage, alongside other demands. Of the new proposal, the union said it did not go far enough in terms of raises, “could have been offered in May” and rested on unclear budget cuts.
“There is no new information, no change in budgets or allocation,” the union’s bargaining update reads. “Their actions have brought us to the brink of a strike.”
The San Francisco school district is facing a staffing crisis: A quarter of its teaching positions are unfilled, according to the superintendent, alongside a quarter of custodial workers. Teachers in the city are poorly paid compared to their peers: In California, when accounting for health benefits, San Francisco teachers’ compensation ranks at 129 out of 268, according to a recent San Francisco Chronicle analysis.
“Here comes your 19th nervous breakdown”. Rolling Stones.
I hope the good teachers get what they deserve. And yet, we have to admit there are bad teachers. They don’t deserve the raise. Someone I know who is a teacher posted that she hated field trips, showed off her newly bought Chanel bag and Tesla. I know how she spent her money is a personal choice but as a parent, I don’t think she loves her students or her jobs.
Joe,
How much do teachers at each experience-level currently make? What are their current benefits and how much is that worth? What kind of ongoing retirement benefits do they get after they no longer do any work?
From the district’s press release, it sounds like brand new teachers will start at around $76,000/year salary and inflate from there. Is that correct? Please provide the public with full disclosure and real numbers and instead just vague percentages relative to some undisclosed amount. Thank you!
That’s all public knowledge. Also, $76,000 is not a livable wage in SF. Teachers should be able to live comfortably in the city- afford a one bedroom apt, food, entertainment, etc. Teachers deserve retirement for their years service.
If we wanted to search all of the pertinent and relevant details to the story, there’d be no point to reading the story…or writing it. 76K starting? It’s entry level. Just like a lot of other jobs. Roommates are a thing for folks just starting out.
Thanks for the great reporting Joe! The district’s “historic” offer also requires the union to drop all other negotiations, including those that have no financial impact. This, after 3 years of no raises and huge numbers of folks leaving or not taking jobs with SFUSD because they can’t figure out the basic task if paying their employees. Enough is enough.