Overview:
The 1,500-member teachers union and the West Contra Costa Unified School District have been unable to reach a contract agreement after negotiating since February.
The main sticking point is salaries, with teachers asking for a 10% raise and the district offering 2%.
If a deal cannot be reached by Nov. 28, the teachers can then give their 48-hour notice to strike.
Update: An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect date for when a strike could possibly happen due to incorrect information provided to Richmondside by the state Public Employment Relations Board.
The West Contra Costa Unified School District and United Teachers of Richmond have reached the final official step in their months-long contract stalemate: A state mediation hearing that was held Tuesday. If the two sides still can’t agree, the earliest teachers could go on strike is Dec. 2.
The meeting before the three-person panel was closed to the public, but the union discussed the issues — and how parents, students and teachers can support and prepare for a potential strike — at a town hall held Tuesday night at CoBiz in Richmond. Another one is set for Thursday in Kensington.
“We’re here today because we want to make sure that families know the truth about how (WCCUSD) is using public dollars,” UTR President Francisco Ortiz told the more than 40 people who attended Tuesday’s meeting. “And we’re here today because educators, families and our community must stand together.”
The panel was legally required as part of the negotiations process. The state’s Public Employment Relations Board’s (PERB) goal is to help the union and district come to an agreement. UTR was represented by its executive director Mark Mitchell and WCCUSD’s attorney Roy Combs from the Oakland-based law firm Fagen Friedman and Fulfrost, presented the district’s side.
For months, WCCUSD officials have argued that the district simply cannot afford what the union is asking for. The district says it faces a structural deficit and must cut $7.7 million this year to balance its budget.
UTR is asking for a 10% salary increase over the next two years. WCCUSD, after initially offering no raise, is offering a 2% salary increase as well as an increased contribution to cover healthcare costs — from 80% to 85%.
WCCUSD ranks 18th out of the 19 school districts in Contra Costa County in terms of pay and employees pay the most out-of-pocket for health benefits, according to a union-commissioned report from the School Services of California. UTR argues this is the reason WCCUSD struggles to retain and attract teachers, lowering the quality of education.
Other concerns include changes to the special education program (advocates plan to address the school board about these issues during the public comment portion of Wednesday’s school board meeting), class sizes, and a desire to lighten the workload for special education teachers, therapists and school nurses by hiring more staff.
Ortiz was disappointed to see WCCUSD represented at the state panel meeting by a firm he said has historically helped “keep the unions at bay.”
“The entire operation was contracted out to some guy that gets paid (thousands) a day,” Ortiz told Richmondside after the town hall meeting. “We had testimony from educators, specialists … but the district seemed indifferent.”
WCCUSD Superintendent Cheryl Cotton, who attended the hearings for both UTR and the Teamsters, said she “heard clearly how deeply our employees care about the quality of education, the allocation of resources, and the services our students rely on every day.”
“While concerns related to salaries, benefits, and other articles must be resolved at the negotiation table, our shared goal is to support students and strengthen the learning environment,” Cotton told Richmondside after publication. “My commitment as superintendent is to guide West Contra Costa through this challenging time, ensure our employees feel heard and respected, and work with our labor leaders to come together and find a resolution so that we can continue providing the best possible education and support for our students.”
Cotton sent an email after Tuesday’s state panel meeting that was forwarded to Richmondside. It thanked those who participated for their “sincere efforts to move this process forward,” noting that the panel will meet again on Thursday. She also encouraged those interested in learning more to visit the district’s website.
“We remain hopeful and committed to working toward a fair resolution with both unions that supports our employees and maintains the long-term fiscal health of the District, without any disruption to students and families,” Cotton said. “I’m grateful that, in both cases, union leaders agreed to return to continue discussions for fact-findings, and I remain hopeful that we can reach a resolution.”
Teachers union town halls
What: United Teachers of Richmond is hosting two community meetings to discuss how it believes WCCUSD can meet their contract demands.
When: Tues, Nov., 18, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m., CoBiz, 1503 Macdonald Ave.; and Thur., Nov. 20, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m., at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave., Kensington.
When could a strike potentially happen?
A strike is not inevitable, but on Oct. 14 98% of teachers who voted approved a strike. (The union said 1,383 of its 1,500 members cast ballots.)
The state-appointed mediator has until Nov. 28 to give the two parties a fact-finding report containing its recommendations for how the dispute should be resolved. Its findings are not binding.
At that point, if there has been no agreement, the union is free to provide the district with a 48-hour notice to strike, meaning the teachers could strike right after the Thanksgiving break. At any time, WCCUSD can make offers to resolve the impasse.
Gabby Micheletti, bargaining chair for UTR, did not say if or when the strike would be called but confirmed that educators plan to show up to work on Mon., Dec. 1.
J. Felix De La Torre, the PERB’s general counsel, told Richmondside via email that the report that will be issued will be kept private for 10 days to give the school district one final chance to agree on a deal.
“The report must consider several factors: (1) stipulations by the parties; (2) wages and benefits in comparable districts; (3) employer’s ability to pay; (4) total compensation; and (5) public interest, De La Torre wrote.
Many educators want to strike because their frustration has been mounting for years, UTR President Francisco Ortiz previously told Richmondside. They’ve been working without a contract since June and have been negotiating since February.
Strike preparations have been moving forward full-steam. Last week, UTR picket captains gathered to finalize next steps for site-level mobilization, Ortiz wrote in a community email sent on Friday. He said captains are preparing to have strong picket lines at every school site. UTR members have also made hundreds of picked signs and posters.
“Our picket captains are fired up,” Ortiz wrote. “If WCCUSD continues to deny reality, continues to ignore the data, and continues to destabilize our schools — then we will meet that moment together, in solidarity, and in full force.”
Ortiz also noted that WCCUSD has started calling substitutes to fill in if there is a strike. After teachers authorized the strike, WCCUSD held a special meeting to authorize paying more than double the usual substitute pay rate ($550 a day), hoping to entice subs to cross picket lines.
UTR isn’t the only union poised to strike. The Teamsters Local 856, which represents 1,500 employees who work in a variety of jobs including clerical, food service, maintenance, paraprofessionals in special education and security, also presented its case before a three-person PERB panel this week.
About 96% of its members voted in October to authorize a strike amid stalled salary and staffing negotiations.
UTR asks community to prepare to support the strike
Several parents and a student who attended UTR’s town hall Tuesday asked: What does it mean to cross a picket line and how do we support teachers?
Ortiz said students shouldn’t go to school, assuming that doesn’t burden a family too much.
“If the district forces a strike, we ask families to respect our picket lines,” Ortiz said. “We can’t expect the level of supervision or the level of educational quality to continue if all of the school teachers, psychologists, speech language pathologists, counselors, librarians, nurses are on strike.”
If the Teamsters also strike, employees who handle campus security and food services won’t be on campus either. Another union, the School Supervisors Association, has also voted to sympathy strike, meaning different supervisors and coordinators will use their legally-protected rights to support the union and not come to work.
That means it’s possible that campuses will be practically empty. Ortiz said even contracted positions, people who run after-school programs or other school activities, have told UTR they may pause work in solidarity with teachers.
“We know that in other examples (of a strike) students were placed into multipurpose rooms with an administrator with no legal instruction that is appropriate for them in their development,” Ortiz said. “And so we asked folks to stand with us … adopt a picket line. You could join our rallies. You can bring your students.”
UTR members said they understand that it’s a big ask of families, especially because many cannot afford childcare. Many students also rely on the schools for a free breakfast and lunch.
Ortiz said that different schools will have various resources available for families, but did not yet have the details. Families can stay informed by reaching out to site leads at each school and by signing up for the union’s emails.
“This is a strike that’s really for them (students), because our educators are not willing to overwhelmingly authorize a strike if we don’t see the crises that are impacting our classes on a day-to-day basis,” Ortiz said to the crowd.
“The (district) has the power of the purse, and we have the power of the people,” Ortiz continued. “I am optimistic and hopeful that with our people power, we can force decision making to prioritize students and actually provide long-term stability and solutions for our students.”
Learn more about how WCCUSD schools work in this guide.
I’m a retired Berkeley High math teacher living in El Cerrito. Given the current rate of inflation (~3%/year), and the likelihood that it will increase, and given rapidly rising healthcare costs, WCCUSD employees would need ~4%/year (so 8% over 2 years) just to break even. The district’s offer of 2% total is thus a 6% pay cut. This state has lots of money, but the Dems won’t tax the rich enough to begin to reverse the growing income inequality. Nor will they implement CalCare (Medicare for All), despite the healthcare crisis. We in the 99% need to encourage educators to strike: not just UTR, but in Oakland (OEA), SF (UESF), and Berkeley (BFT), which face similar crises because of underfunding of education by the state. Austerity (really: greed of the billionaires) threatens all of society: most social ills worsen when economic inequality increases.
https://sites.google.com/view/budgets-are-baloney/actuals/contra-costa-actuals
Scroll to the bottom of the spreadsheet. Actual historical data from the CA Dept of Ed clearly shows WCCUSD’s reserve funds have ballooned to over $500 million dollars, more than 70% of their annual expenditures.
COLA not passed on to employee groups is ongoing revenue, not “one time money.”