Overview:
The WCCUSD teachers union announced Monday that it will go on strike Thursday.
This FAQ aims to answer questions parents may have about what to expect.
This is a fluid situation, and circumstances may unexpectedly change, so check back regularly to ensure you have the latest information.
The United Teachers of Richmond union and the Teamsters union plan to go on strike Thur., Dec. 4, and additional WCCUSD employees are expected to support them by also stopping their work. At least 3,000 employees are likely to be missing from the district’s 56 campuses, leaving classrooms to be staffed by administrators and substitute teachers.
Now, families and students may be left with many questions and a fair amount of confusion: Do I want my child to cross picket lines? And if they do, will there be adequate staff to teach them and keep the campuses safe? If I decide to respect the picket line and keep my student at home, who will watch them while I’m at work?
Richmondside assembled this guide to help answer as many of these questions as we could find answers to. If you have additional questions, please let us know what they are and we’ll do our best to update this article. You can post questions in the comments below, email our education reporter at jana@richmondside.org or post your query on our story tips page (where you can opt to remain anonymous).
What is a strike?
Strikes often happen when a labor union can’t reach a contract agreement with its employer. The employees have a legal right to stop working as a means to force their employer to meet their demands. Union members are not paid when they are on strike.
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Strikes are intentionally disruptive and typically occur as a last resort, when contract negotiations have completely broken down. For school districts, there are laws in place to ensure both the unions and district have exhausted all options in the negotiation process.
California law requires the parties to participate in “good faith bargaining,” or a solutions-oriented mindset, to find a middle ground. If that is not possible, unions must declare an impasse and complete a state-mediation process before they can legally go on strike.
Federal and California law do not set a maximum duration for teacher strikes. The unions just have to give the district a 48-hour notice before it happens.
State law does not specify any positions in schools that are absolutely forbidden from striking.
Who is potentially striking, and why?
WCCUSD has five unions. Two of them, the United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) and the Teamsters, voted to authorize a strike after months of stalled contract negotiations.
The Teamsters, which represents 1,500 employees who work in a variety of jobs including clerical, food service, maintenance, paraprofessionals in special education and security, reached a tentative agreement with WCCUSD on Nov. 25, but on Dec. 2, the members voted against ratifying it and said they will strike. Their tentative contract called for a 3% salary increase in year one and an increased employer contribution of 90% to help cover healthcare costs.
UTR announced it’s going on strike because it believes the WCCUSD’s latest offer of a 3% salary increase is too low. (The teachers union does not have a “me too” clause, which means it cannot ask for a similar offer given to another union.)
The teachers have been working without a contract since June. WCCUSD ranks 18th out of the 19 school districts in Contra Costa County in terms of salaries, and its 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 why WCCUSD struggles to retain and attract teachers, lowering the quality of education.
The School Supervisors Association authorized a sympathy strike, meaning different supervisors and coordinators will use their legally-protected rights to support the teachers union if it strikes.
Other Teamsters, including freight and delivery drivers (such as UPS) and solid waste and recycling workers, could honor the teachers’ picket lines, union representatives told Richmondside.
UTR officials said some contracted positions — people who run after-school programs or other school activities, for example — have told UTR they may pause work in solidarity with teachers.
What happens during a strike?
Usually, striking employees form what’s called a picket line outside of their work sites. This historically has been a way to publicize their issues and discourage any non-union workers that may be called in to replace them, which is referred to as “crossing the picket line.”
UTR said it plans to picket if there’s a strike, and there are likely to be picket lines at individual school sites across the district.
Can striking workers be fired?
Workers are legally protected to strike, so firing them for that would be illegal.
Is crossing the picket line allowed?
Yes, it is allowed. WCCUSD is planning to pay substitute teachers double the normal day rate to encourage them to work. The district also relies on students going to school because its state funding is based on its average daily attendance rate.
UTR, however, is asking the school community to join them on the picket line. Having more students, parents and district employees on the picket lines is a way to pressure the district to respond to the union’s demands.
Anyone actively picketing is not allowed to prevent students from attending school or bar anyone showing up to work there from entering a campus.
Is it considered crossing the picket line to send my child to school?
Yes. While UTR cannot discourage students from attending schools, a strike is considered more effective when more students and staff do not go to class or work, which is why UTR is asking the community to respect their picket lines. The school district is emphasizing that all schools will be open and they are encouraging students to attend.
The district receives funding through the state based on average daily attendance. The more students who attend school, the more money the district receives. If students don’t “cross the picket line” then the district will receive less money, perhaps motivating it to meet union demands, ending the strike more quickly.
Calling in sick will be an excused absence, and the district will still receive funding for excused absences.
What’s the timeline and how long would a strike last?
It is unknown how long a strike will last as there are no legal time limits. UTR officials have said they will strike as long as they need to, to negotiate what they believe is a fair contract. (WCCUSD has maintained that it cannot afford to give the union the pay raise it has asked for.)
The longest teacher strike in California history was the 1996 Oakland Unified teachers strike, which lasted 26 days. Oakland Unified teachers also went on a two-week strike in 2022.
The 2022 Oakland Unified teachers’ strike helped the union achieve its goals, including giving all teachers a 10% retroactive raise, a $5,000 one-time payment for full-time members and additional stipends for bilingual credentials and dual-language programs.
Would schools be able to operate normally if there’s a strike?
Richmondside has reached out to WCCUSD for details about how a strike might impact day-to-day school operations, but the district declined to comment. It did however, release a video on Mon., Dec. 1 with some information for the school community.
The video states that all schools will remain open and it will offer independent study for interested families. Superintendent Cheryl Cotton also confirmed that meals for students (breakfast and lunch) will be provided. If a student is absent, a family member can still pick up meals but must provide the student’s full name and ID number, as well as their teacher’s name.
The union said that it expects many services to be significantly reduced. In teacher strikes elsewhere, classes have been paused or combined, or students have been gathered into large groups in multi-purpose rooms because there was not enough staff to watch all the students in individual classrooms.
Which school services might be impacted by a strike?
With the Teamsters now going on strike, and other contracted services planning to not cross the picket line these services are expected to be impacted:
- Administrative or clerical services
- Custodial/maintenance (cleaning, restrooms)
- Campus security/supervision
- Special programs (e.g. extracurriculars, after-school programs)
How can I find out what’s happening at my school site?
Some parents are organizing resources for families, but those resources will differ by school sites. Parents are encouraged to talk to their children’s teacher or their PTA for more information.
School sites and districts say they will also be sending emails and text alerts during the strike.
Will remote learning be offered?
Remote learning through the district’s educators will not be offered if a strike occurs.
However, WCCUSD is offering an independent study program to all families. Information will be sent out through ParentSquare, and families will have to sign an independent study agreement. This program will help the district not lose funding from students not attending school, minimizing the impacts of a strike.
What would happen to the district’s daily student meals/food service?
WCCUSD has a robust nutritional program, offering daily free healthy meals (breakfast and lunch) to all of its 25,000 pupils. The district has has hired a company to ensure meals will be served.
Will my child lose instructional time?
It is likely that students will lose instructional time, depending how long the strike lasts and — for students who do attend school in person — whether the district can find enough properly credentialed substitute teachers to fill classrooms.
As of Mon., Dec. 1, the district had hired 200 substitute teachers, according to WCCUSD school board member Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy. He said district office staff will likely be at school sites to help fill the gaps, but it is likely students will be placed in a cafeteria or multipurpose room with supervisors.
Would students still be able to access special education services (IEPs, counseling, speech therapists, aides)?
A lot of those services are represented by unions, but some are contracted out. If a student receives services from staff who do not work for WCCUSD, then it is possible those services may continue. However, it is unclear because contract workers are legally protected if they choose to not cross a picket line.
Cotton said the district is contacting families of medically fragile students this week to discuss services during a strike. She said in an email sent to families Dec. 1 that the strike will interrupt services for special needs students.
Can my student still take the bus to school?
Special education transportation will continue throughout the strike.
AC Transit will also still be operating. As of Dec. 1, AC Transit had not informed the district of any changes to its normal bus routes or schedules. However, AC Transit has indicated that drivers have the discretion to proceed to a safe location or to the next stop if a driver determines it is unsafe to drop students off or pick them up at a regular bus stop due to striking workers, according to WCCUSD.
What rights do students have?
Students are typically expected to attend classes as usual, but if their class is canceled or campus operations are scaled down, they may not have access to full services.
UTR has assured parents that students who miss school are very unlikely to get in trouble. However, the district may send a message to families that missing school during a strike will result in an unexcused absence. As long as families don’t state that an absence is specifically to support a possible UTR strike, the absence will be considered excused.
Missing school during a strike will not impact students’ grades, graduation status or college admissions. In recent teacher strikes across California, students were not penalized for being absent, according to the union.
Can the district and union continue trying to reach an agreement during the strike?
Yes, bargaining can continue during a strike. Usually the involved parties become more motivated to resolve their issues to end the strike as soon as possible, as the longer it continues, the more it can impact the district, employees and students.
WCCUSD officials have assured families that they are still negotiating — and will continue to do so during the strike.
How can I learn more?
UTR has its own FAQ sheet. WCCUSD has also been publishing updates about the union negotiations on its website.
Thank you for this very informative article! It presents both sides in a very fair way. I hope that parents realize that the fastest way to end the strike is to keep their children home and call and/or text the school board members everyday demanding that their children’s teachers get the pay they deserve. You can’t expect to get a BMW teacher while paying a VW salary. Start making calls/texts today and we might be able to end the strike before it even starts! Let the school board know that the most important people in a school, besides the students, are the teachers.
When teachers are forced to strike, it’s never against students, it’s against a system that refuses to do right by them.