Bad to worse: Teachers vote to strike
From SFGate today,
San Francisco public school teachers overwhelmingly approved a walkout Wednesday night in the first strike vote taken by the group in 27 years.The United Educators of San Francisco — which represents 6,000 teachers and aides working in the San Francisco Unified School District — voted 2,203 to 317 to strike.
The union has been working without a contract since July 2004. The teachers and aides last had a pay raise in the 2002-03 academic year.
Interim Superintendent Gwen Chan said she was surprised the strike vote passed by such a large margin.
“I’m disappointed that the vote indicates that the teachers are prepared to strike,” she said. “We have really looked at our books and tried to come up with more, but it’s very challenging. We’ll have to make big sacrifices if the board decides to offer more.”
The union is asking for a 10 percent raise, much of it in retroactive pay, plus a onetime, 1 percent bonus for every member. The district is offering a 7.5 percent raise, with almost half of it not coming until June 2007.
Myong Leigh, the district’s chief of policy and planning, said the money differential between the two proposals is $27 million over the life of the new contract, which would expire June 30, 2007. Kelly said Wednesday he didn’t agree with that number but couldn’t provide the union’s calculation.
The union also is fighting for several new health and safety provisions, including rodent extermination, a first aid kit in every classroom, and a working phone line in every classroom.
SF Teachers Vote To Authorize Strike [NBC11.com]
San Francisco Strike? [Intercepts]
SF Teachers and Paraprofessionals Strike Vote set for March 29 [UESF]
