WCCUSD strike: Pickets to continue Friday. No formal offer made after negotiations

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Today, for the first time in the history of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, nearly 3,000 union employees went on strike over salaries and working conditions that they say are detrimental to students.

Members of the teachers and Teamsters unions were on the picket lines by about 7:45 a.m. Thursday morning, braving the chilly weather to fight for a contract they say is critical to stemming the flood of teachers fleeing the district, leaving many pupils with a revolving door of substitute teachers.

The morning of picketing was followed by a rally. An estimated 1,500 people packed Veterans Memorial Park, creating a sea of United Teachers of Richmond red, with a Teamster-branded semi-truck making a strong bright blue background statement, an American flag plastered across the cab.

Elias Avalos Perdomo, a Kennedy High School senior and student body president, spoke at the rally and called for students, teachers and Teamsters to “disrupt the system.”

“Although we’ve been dealt a bad hand, we are here to win it all,” he told the crowd.

“I am tired of there not being action but I will never be tired of speaking out,” Avalos Perdomo said. “What I believe in is fully-staffed schools, teachers with fair contracts, students with equal opportunity to learn and grow. The district says they don’t want to give it to us. They say that by their actions.”

Avalos Perdomo also called out WCCUSD Superintendent Cheryl Cotton, saying that she has said students deserve “stability, care and adults who work together.”

“But how does that prove to us if your actions contradict what you say?” Avalos Perdomo said. “When you defund our programs, when you remove our teachers, when you isolate these students because these students do not feel they are in a safe learning environment.”

Some Richmond elected officials also attended the rally, including Mayor Eduardo Martinez, District 6 council member Claudia Jimenez and District 1 council member Jamelia Brown.

Martinez, who said he wasn’t scheduled to speak but was passed the microphone, said that Avalos Perdomo’s speech “brought back memories” of the 18 years he spent as a west Contra Costa County elementary school educator.

“I know what you’re going through,” Martinez told the crowd. “We have been operating on the status quo but we know the status quo doesn’t feed the whole. The status quo only feeds a part.”

Both Martinez and Jimenez co-sponsored a city council resolution on Tuesday night that allocated $50,000 to expand community center hours and programs for Richmond students and their families during the strike.

Jimenez, a parent of two WCCUSD students, told Richmondside after the rally that supporting labor unions, students and parents is of “key” importance.

“If our schools do well, our city does well,” she said. “Major things around quality of life center around access to quality education and if we don’t do that we can’t grow as a city the way that we want.”

In an email sent Wednesday, the district said it’s “saddened” by the unions’ decision to strike and understands the frustrations employees are feeling around salaries, health benefits and staffing.

“A strike harms our children by disrupting their learning, especially at this critical point in the semester,” the email signed by Cotton states. “We are heartbroken for our students.”

School board member Demetrio Gonzales-Hoy told Richmondside Tuesday that the district so far has only hired 200 substitute teachers, despite offering double the usual pay rate, meaning most classrooms in the 25,000-student, 56-school district will be staffed by non-union employees, such as administrators, or combined with other classes.

There were multiple reports of very low or even zero attendance at various schools, which impacts the district financially because state funding is based on average daily attendance numbers. One source said attendance districtwide was 10%.

Fifth-grade teacher Jeffrey Bean told Richmondside just 10 students came to Shannon Elementary Thursday morning. By 12:30 p.m. there were just four students there, he said. Reportedly no students attended their therapy sessions at Cameron, the district’s preschool special education program based in El Cerrito; at Richmond High School, a substitute teacher said 130 to 150 of the 1,300-student body showed up; and at Highland Elementary there were three subs and 33 students.

“Other students showed up but went home when they saw the picket line,” Bean said.

There were some reports that picketers may have been blocking access at some campuses, and the district sent out a sternly worded email reminding the community that such actions are not allowed during a strike.

It appears that most of the substitutes were assigned to the elementary schools, with high school students combined into larger facilities such as cafeterias and gymnasiums.

The district and the two striking unions met for a negotiation session Thursday afternoon, but no formal offer was made, and the union said the strike will continue Friday.

Cotton said in an email sent Thursday night that the district asked to meet again Friday.

“We are making progress on our negotiations. I know our school community joins me in learning that it was a productive discussion, and we are making our way forward,” she wrote.

But a message sent by UTR leadership only a few minutes earlier wasn’t as positive.

“They emailed us at 9:30 a.m. to bargain at 4 p.m., then met us with security, locked us out for 30 minutes, and held us in a room with no meaningful movement and no written proposals,” said the message from UTR President Francisco Ortiz.

District says schools will be on ‘secure’ mode

At 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night, the superintendent posted a video on the internal district app, ParentSquare, giving details about school operations during the strike. It notes, among other details:

All activities that occur outside of the regular school day are canceled, including after-school programs, athletics and any performances. Preschool and adult school programs are closed.

Cotton also said campuses will be on “secure mode,” meaning exterior doors will be locked, there will be extra security workers present and campuses are closed to anyone aside from students and subs, including volunteers. Also, drop off and pick up locations may be different.

For families not crossing the picket lines, Richmondside has found that there are few last-minute child care options available locally. The city’s emergency expenditure is designed to help local community organizations extend their hours as a stopgap measure.

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A Richmond High teacher reported that only 50 out of 1,300 Richmond High students attended classes. At Highland Elementary, there were three substitute teachers and only 33 out of 407 students present.

12:15 p.m.

The district and union are scheduled to be back at the negotiating table later this afternoon, union officials said at the rally.

12 p.m.

There are reports that school attendance was low. For example, at Obama Elementary 50 to 80 students attended out of an enrollment of 400. Only 12 students attended at Grant Elementary out of 560 enrolled there as of 2023-24 school year, the most recent year state data is available.

11 a.m.

Police estimate 1,000 to 1,500 people are gathered at Veterans Memorial Park in Richmond, across the street from the WCCUSD administrative office, to rally in support of the two unions on strike. A semi-truck adorned with a Teamsters logo, sits on Bissell Avenue.

10:26 a.m.

A steady stream of union supporters, marching and chanting, walks down Macdonald Avenue in Richmond as cars honk in support.

10:15 a.m.

Niko Villars, a social studies and government teacher at Pinole Valley High School, told Richmondside that he saw about 50 students enter the school this morning but had not seen any subs or teachers crossing the picket line.

“By 7:45 a.m. we were out here in strength and numbers,” Villars said. “Our parking lot is virtually empty.”

Villars reiterated the message that teacher vacancies are a main point of contention for the union and that he’s seen its effect in his classroom.

“I’ve asked many of my classes now, how many of you have had a year without a permanent teacher, a year of rotating subs, and nearly every student in my classroom raises their hand,” Villars added. “We’re losing years of quality curriculum in English or science and we’re competing against students in other districts who are getting that curriculum. We really need the district to come to the table with a fair offer that’s competitive with other districts so that we can keep and retain teachers.”

Teachers spend a lot of time with students, Villars said, so vacancies can make a difference in whether a student is getting a quality education.

“It just represents an incredible amount of time that they’re either getting quality instruction or they’re with some random sub that may not even know their name and may be out the door in a few days,” Villars said. “That is not a trained teacher. Subs are well-meaning and they’re working hard but they’re not trained teachers in our curriculum.”

9:26 a.m.

No students or substitute teachers were spotted entering Ohlone campus. Only two children were seen arriving at Verde and no substitutes.

9:20 a.m.

Stege first-grade teacher Robin Bryant said the district’s schools haven’t really been adequately staffed “in years,” and she echoed a common union refrain that the district isn’t budgeting its funds correctly.

“They have the money — they’re just not distributing it!” Bryant said.

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9:06 a.m.

The school district sent out the following email, reminding strike participants that’s it’s unlawful to block entry to school buildings:

“We know the employee strike in our District is very unsettling for our students and families. We have been working hard to ensure our students who come to school are safe. Unfortunately, we are already hearing that some individuals are blocking entrances to our schools this morning, including blocking some of our special education students. We have asked that people not block students and families who are trying to come to school. They are making a difficult choice that we should all respect, even though we might disagree with it. I would also like to remind our families that independent study is available. For independent study information, please visit our website at www.wccusd.net.

“We also have heard statements from UTR leadership that we have not responded to them, which is inaccurate. Our negotiations team met with UTR’s bargaining team on Monday afternoon and also communicated yesterday, making a proposal based on the Factfinding (sic) report’s recommendation. And early this morning, we reached out to UTR. We are serious about getting this matter resolved. We acknowledge that our employees deserve salary and benefits increases and we want a resolution, but this cannot happen while we are on strike and not at the negotiations table.”

9 a.m.

Michael and Mandi Messina-Godfrey, parents of first-grader Bella and fifth-grader Billi, students at Ohlone Elementary in Hercules, said they joined the picket line because they feel it is important to support educators.

“It’s crucial. Our children are with these amazing, professionals all day long, and we need to give (them) the support, so that our children are receiving the support that they absolutely deserve,” Michael Messina-Godfrey said. “First and foremost is for the teachers to get the pay that they absolutely deserve, considering that they own a professional degree. They do not nearly get paid enough compared to other professions with that same requirement.”

He added that they want the district to address the teacher vacancies. He said that his daughter Billi had multiple teachers during her fourth-grade year.

“She had three different teachers all throughout the year,” he said. “And the final one was just a random person who had no business being a teacher and it had really had consequences on her education. We’re still trying to play catchup.”

9 a.m.

At El Cerrito High there were more than 150 people picketing, including parents and students, as well as neighborhood kids walking around passing out donuts.

Rachel Magidish, a sophomore at El Cerrito High, said she is striking because class “sizes are too big and teachers are overworked.” In her French class, for example, there are 37 desks, and three students sit in the back on the floor.

El Cerrito High School English teacher Eric Jepson said the school’s Advanced Placement biology teacher quit mid-year and left the Bay Area because she couldn’t afford her rent anymore. He said there is only one vacancy at the high school, but classrooms are overcrowded and there is a revolving door of substitute teachers.

Sophomore Aaliyah Cole said her math teacher quit within the first week of school and after two months of substitute teachers she now has a long-term substitute teaching her Algebra 2 class. She said it’s made it difficult to learn and understand what’s going on.

Junior Destiny Adams moved to the West Contra Costa Unified School District from Oakland Unified and said she was surprised that things are “worse” here, pointing to issues such as power outages and poor internet connections.

This is the fourth teacher strike she has experienced as student. She was a student when Oakland Unified went on strike in 2023, 2022 and 2019.

“It’s a little hard because you can’t get the education that you want, or if you have upcoming assignments and stuff that you want to turn in, it could be a little hard trying to extra help from your teacher knowing that they’re outside,” Adams told Richmondside. “This is nothing new to me … but I don’t like it here.” 

Floyd Cole, a senior at El Cerrito High said he entered the campus before joining the picket line outside with his sister and cousin, both of whom are students there.

He said said freshmen were gathered in the library, sophomores were in the theater, juniors were in the cafeteria, and seniors were in the gym. He estimated there were only 20 seniors and 20 juniors at school, but more underclassmen. Cole also said many of the students on campus were football players who said they attended because administrators told them they couldn’t play if they did not show up for school.

“I’ve had a good experience here, but I do think the teachers are very underpaid and we have a lot of substitutes,” Cole told Richmondside. “All four years I’ve been here, we’ve had power issues. Our power goes off a lot and wifi goes out. We have days where we miss school because there’s no wifi.”

His sister, sophomore Aaliyah Cole, said the substitute issue is a big one at El Cerrito. This year, her math teacher quit within the first week of school. Until October, several substitute teachers came in and out. Now she has a long-term substitute teaching the class. She said it’s made it difficult to learn and understand what’s going on.

“It’s hard because the sub, he tries to teach us, but it’s hard to learn a little bit. I don’t think this class listens to him,” Aaliyah Cole said, noting that the overfilled classes can become unruly. “A lot of teachers have left or gotten fired because it’s hard to teach sometimes I think.”

Jepson also noted that along with power issues at the high school, the district has failed to respond to its multiple requests to fund the school’s radio program.

“Our radio teacher, who worked at KQED and other broadcast outlets for decades, comes and wants to work here, she should get credited for that experience, and the district is not super interested in that. And so we have this awesome program that (doesn’t exist anymore) and if you turn it to our radio stations right now, it’s just static,” Jepson told Richmondside. “That shouldn’t happen … and we’re better off than a lot of the district. There’s so many open positions in the district.”

8:49 a.m.

An estimated 60 picketers are at Richmond High School.

Adriana Ortiz, attendance clerk at Richmond High and a Teamster, said she is striking because it’s too expensive for her and her colleagues to live here. She voted against the tentative agreement the district offered the Teamsters because the 3% raise did not seem high enough.

“We are human beings. We need an increase of cost of living. Life right now is getting difficult,” Ortiz told Richmondside, excited to be on the picket line. She said Teamsters are often overlooked, so it’s heartwarming to see the community’s support now. “We’re one team here at the district overall, between UTR and Teamsters, and we’re all here for the students at the end of the day.”

Richmond High sophomore Isabel Ramirez said she is picketing because she loves her teachers and doesn’t want a revolving door of substitute teachers. She went to Helms Middle School and said her eighth-grade English and science classes were not filled by a permanent teacher, so when she got to high school she felt unprepared.

“My (eighth-grade) science teacher ended up having to switch to a different school, and we had subs for the longest time ever, and whenever they did find a permanent teacher, it was really just a temporary teacher, only there for like a month or so — and it was the last month of school,” Ramirez said. “And he was the longest that stayed. And he wasn’t qualified to teach science. He was a PE coach, but he tried his best to at least find something like science-related for us to do.”

Ramirez was at the picket lines with her mother, Andrea, who is a Head Start teacher and her older sister, Gabby, who graduated from Richmond High in 2022. Gabby Ramirez said she joined the picket lines because she wants to be a teacher. She believes the teachers are not only fighting for the students’ future, but for all future educators.

“I was inspired by my high school teachers … They always said like ‘I care for you guys,’ and stuff like that,” Gabby Ramirez said, holding back tears. “I want to come back to, hopefully, RHS to serve my community. This is also going to be my future as an educator, so they’re doing the work right now… not just for me, but my sister’s future … Teachers are the foundation for the future.”

Richmond High geometry teacher Emelia Calderón said all of the math classes are filled to max capacity with 36 students each. Calderon teaches math for newcomer students and in her class there are students who speak Arabic, Nepalese and Tagalog. She said half of Richmond High’s student body are English language learners.

“That’s another layer to the amount of supports and differentiation, we as educators are supposed to provide, and we’re supposed to do, with 36 kids?,” Calderon said. “How do we expect teachers to do their job?”

Calderon said the teachers are asking for the bare minimum.

“Can we not have kids fainting in our classrooms while they’re trying to learn math because it’s so hot during the summer weather?” Calderon said. “My students are very supportive of what’s going on. They know how hard we work every day. They’re very sympathetic. I love them and they love us.” 

8:48 a.m.

An estimated 70 people were gathered at Fairmont Elementary School, including young children and a man playing the drums to cheer on chanting attendees.

8:46 a.m.

A text is sent to students by the principal of Hercules High School containing a Google link that asks students to self-report their attendance for each period they are at school.

8:11 a.m.

There do not appear to be any substitutes entering Lake or parents dropping off their children.

8 a.m.

It appears that some people arriving to Verde Elementary weren’t aware of the strike. As they pulled up in their cars to the North Richmond K-8 school, drivers were seen speaking to picketers and then leaving the campus.

There was a group of 30 teachers, staff and families picketing.

“I’m out here with my colleagues because the status quo is not sustainable,” said Jean Kintscher, a United Teachers of Richmond rep. “Half of the educators at my site have been hired in the last two years. Tons of experience and knowledge in teaching is gone. And who pays the price? Our students.”

Carrying signs that read “Fair contract now!” and “On strike for smaller class sizes,” UTR and Teamsters members marched and chanted outside the school as a few families arrived to drop off their kids. 

Some picketers, stationed lower down the street, spoke with families arriving at school in vehicles. Many cars turned back, honking in support of educators followed by cheers from union members. 

Parent Domitila Muñoz arrived early Thursday morning with her two sons to support the picket. Her children held signs that said, “Finding Bigfoot is easier than finding a living wage at WCCUSD.”

“My kids wanted to come and support their teacher,” she said in Spanish. “Teachers are paid too little, and they put in so much effort every day to educate our children. Our school is missing a lot of teachers because of low pay, and they deserve better wages because our students struggle without them.”

8:01 a.m.

Teachers at Lake Elementary School in San Pablo are out in the chilly 45-degree morning picketing along 12th Street, chanting, “We want the picket line rain or shine. The district says cut back. We say fight back.”

Richmondside editor Kari Hulac and photographer Maurice Tierney contributed to this report.

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