The West Contra Costa Unified School District and Teamsters Local 856 reached a tentative contract agreement Tuesday, leaving the district with just one union that’s still preparing to strike. The Teamsters, which represent about 1,500 workers, had authorized a strike after months of stalled negotiations.
Just a week after going through the state mediation process, the Teamsters and district accepted the state panel’s recommendations: a three-year contract that provides an ongoing 3% raise starting in year one, significant increases to the cash-in-lieu benefit and 90% paid medical benefits locked in for three years.
The tentative agreement still needs to be ratified by union members. The union represents workers who perform a variety of jobs including clerical, food service, maintenance, paraprofessionals in special education and campus security.
“We are definitely hopeful that the agreement is approved and that it will help maintain a continuity of education for our students,” WCCUSD spokesperson Raechelle Forrest told Richmondside.
The Teamsters originally asked for an 8% annual raise over three years. They then reduced their proposal to 6% a year over three years. WCCUSD initially countered with no raise increase and then offered a 2% raise, which the union declined.
Richmondside couldn’t reach representatives from the Teamsters for comment, but on their website, they wrote that they are recommending that union members vote to approve the new contract. The union will share details with members at a Dec. 1 meeting. (The district is currently on a week-long holiday break.) After that, it will hold contract voting online.
“Because of your solidarity and strength, we pushed the District for a fair contract,” the union wrote on its website. “Thank you for holding the line and standing up.”
The contract secures a 3% wage increase (2% retroactive to July 1, 2025; and a 1% increase effective Jan. 1), with wage reopeners for 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 and the right to strike should wage negotiations stall at those times.
The contract also provides cash-in-lieu benefits increases to $400 per month for full-time staff and $100 to$200 for part-time employees, depending on hours worked. This is the first time part-time employees are receiving those benefits.
“The agreement addresses a longstanding inequity for part-time workers that Teamsters Local 856 has been fighting over for the past three contracts,” the Teamsters wrote. “The agreement will provide an average member working 30 hours per week and earning $2,800 per month an additional $200 per month, which is equivalent to 7.14%.”
The contract also sets guidelines around how and when the district can contract out work when it can’t find someone to do it in house. A Teamsters’ analysis found the district’s practice of contracting out work, particularly in special education services, has cost the district far more than it would’ve cost to hire unionized staff, without any increases to the efficacy of those services. (The teachers union also shared a similar analysis.)
Teachers union could still decide to strike
The United Teachers of Richmond, which represents about 1,500 educators, has not reached an agreement with the district after negotiating since February and could still go on strike. UTR has asked for a 10% raise over two years. WCCUSD initially countered with no salary increases and eventually offered a 2% raise, which the union declined.
UTR also recently participated in the same state mediation process and is awaiting the panel’s recommendations.
If the teachers decided to go on strike, the teamsters could theoretically authorize a sympathy strike and not cross UTR’s picket line. The School Supervisors Association, for example, authorized a sympathy strike, meaning different supervisors and coordinators will use their legally-protected rights to support the teachers union if it strikes.
However, both the district and the teachers are hopeful an agreement can be reached.
“We are encouraged to see what we have known all along — that the district does, in fact, have more resources than they have been claiming,” UTR President Francisco Ortiz wrote in an email to the community. “And so we remain committed as always to continuing our fight for education equity in West Contra Costa schools.”
Forrest confirmed Tuesday that WCCUSD and UTR are still negotiating.
“The fact-finding panel representatives have been meeting with the state-appointed chairperson to continue their discussions.” Forrest wrote in an email to the community sent Monday. “We are committed to continuing these discussions into next week and through the break — whatever it takes — to try to reach a fair resolution and avert a strike that would only hurt our students.”
This is very bad news for UTR members, for anyone who cares about the children of CA, and most generally, the 99%. It’s not about the precise money. It’s about how this union settling now has betrayed UTR, and all of the educators who have not yet settled. 2025 was to be the year when educators dropped the losing paradigm of narrow negotiations with the state and banded together into a coalition to face the state together, to demand better funding for education, and better conditions for children to be learners. It was a statewide campaign called “We Can’t Wait.” Now Local 856 has gone it’s own way, has settled for an amount which may yet be less than a cost of living adjustment, and has thereby significantly weakened UTR members’ position. UTR’s threat to strike has always been weak, because UTR never strikes; now there is even more pressure on them to settle. We see what is happening to workers broadly in this country. If more workers sell us out and settle for crumbs like Local 856, declining to cultivate our power to make change, we the 99% are all in big, big trouble.