United Educators of San Francisco held a press conference this morning to announce its intent to strike on Monday, if a deal is not reached before then.
Union president, Cassondra Curiel spoke from the steps of the district’s Franklin Street office.
“If the district cannot come to an agreement that meets our students' needs, we are calling for a strike on Monday, February 9th,” she said. “We are announcing the strike here this morning because we want our community and families to be prepared.”
If a strike happens, it will be the first in the district in nearly fifty years.
“The time is now. Our students cannot wait,” Curiel said.
The union wants a 9% wage increase over two years, but the district’s most recent offer is 6% over three years.
On Feb. 4, a neutral fact-finding panel released its report with recommendations.
The panel recommended a 6% raise, but over two years. The report states that the union’s wage and benefits demands would likely be rejected by the state, calling the proposal “not budget neutral.”
On Feb. 4 in a media briefing, Superintendent Dr. Maria Su said she did not believe the parties were far from a deal but did not say whether the district would offer the fact-finding panel’s recommended wage increase.
A pay raise is not all that the parties are negotiating. In fact, the union says its other demands are of equal priority. These include improvements to special education, protections for housing insecure and immigrant families, and fully covered health benefits.
The union says some of the district’s lowest-paid classroom staff spend as much as 40% of their paychecks on health care contributions.
The district offered covered health benefits using parcel tax funds, but only for three years. The union rejected this offer, according to the fact-finding report.
UESF and SFUSD have been in negotiations since March. Union members have been working under an expired contract since July 1.
The parties will return to the negotiation table tonight at 5pm.
