By Dale Martin
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Members of United Educators of San Francisco hold a rally in the rain while teachers and paraprofessionals cast their votes to authorize a strike if necessary. |
For just the second time in 27 years, San Francisco teachers and aides have authorized their union leaders to call a strike if a contract settlement is not reached soon.
Despite a steady rain on March 29, members of United Educators of San Francisco turned out at Kezar Pavilion and cast their votes to call a strike if necessary. The vote was an overwhelming 2,203 to 317.
Educators have been working without a contract since July 2004.
"We haven't seen a salary increase since 2002," says Don Papa, a building rep at Galileo High School in San Francisco. "It's bad enough for a veteran teacher like me who got my housing early on. But even I have had to cut back - no real vacations, hardly dining out anymore. For our younger teachers, it's impossible to live here.
"If you respect educators, pay them as though you respect them."
That respect could also be shown by increasing the budget for instructional supplies, says Steve Herraiz, a kindergarten teacher at John Muir Elementary who spends more than $2,000 of his own money each year on classroom supplies. "Funding for supplies varies from site to site."
A study by the National Center for Policy Analysis showed that San Francisco teachers are the second lowest paid in the country when cost of living is taken into consideration. But pay is not the only issue that educators are willing to strike over. School health and safety issues, including guarantees of schools free of rodents and pests, first aid kits in every classroom, and protection from assault, are also key issues.
Equity for paraprofessionals is another strike issue. As a group, paraprofessionals do not have the same rights as other employees in the schools or in the city. They are denied basic due process rights afforded other city workers. At least 77 career paraprofessionals will also be denied health care upon retirement.
Before declaring impasse Feb. 2, the 6,000-member union and the district met 29 times over 366 days. Since then, the mediation process has failed to bring the two sides closer together on substantive issues.
"What we ask for is simple," says UESF President Dennis Kelly. "We want safer schools, fair pay and equal protection for all members."
"Instead of working with us to find any middle ground, the district has taken every opportunity to stall, delay or otherwise prolong these negotiations. It's time for teachers and paraprofessionals to stand up for what is right for San Francisco schools."
Teachers in San Francisco last went out on strike in 1979. Winning higher salaries and saving the jobs of 715 laid-off teachers were the issues. The walkout lasted six weeks.
