Teachers strike to resume Monday, according to union bargaining team member
OAKLAND, Calif. - The strike by Oakland Unified School District teachers will resume Monday, a member of the union bargaining team said Saturday afternoon.
The strike involves about 3,000 teachers as well as other staff such as nurses, and is affecting about 35,000 students. Teachers and their supporters picketed at about 80 schools across the district Thursday and Friday.
"Our strike is going to continue next week, yes," said Rachel Martin, a bargaining team member with the Oakland Education Association union. She is a site-based substitute teacher at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School. She added, "What we really want is to be back in school with our students."
The teachers, represented by the union, are striking over wages as well as other issues such as safety and racial justice that they want concessions for in any contract. Officials with the district say they are prioritizing wages in contract negotiations because they want to retain teachers.
District Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell has said the district's proposal will cost $70 million and little resources are available to address other issues.
The latest proposal is a 10 percent retroactive raise and a $5,000 one-time bonus for union members, Johnson-Trammell said. It also provides every teacher with a raise of at least 13 percent and as much as 22 percent.
The offer also cuts the time it takes teachers to reach the top of the pay scale to 20 years from 32 years.
Martin detailed other issues beside pay for which the union seeks concessions.
"The state government has given the district to use for community schools and we want a say in how that money is used," the bargaining team member said.
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"Another important aspect is reparations for black students. They have already passed a board measure that is supposed to turn schools with a population of 40 percent or more black students into black thriving community schools. They have allocated funds but it has not been implemented," Martin said.
"Finally, safety," she said.
The union wants safety issues such as gun violence and asbestos and lead in the buildings addressed, Martin said.
In an email sent to the community and the media Saturday morning, school district officials said that while compensation has been the district's top priority in negotiations, the union "made it clear" that other contractual items are also important to them, and that officials' proposals address many of these items.
According to the officials, their proposals address investments in increased preparation time for elementary teachers and additional counselors at prioritized schools.
Also, the district's proposals address "a process for ensuring that special education teachers and staff are supported through an equitable workload model," the district said.