Oakland educators announced Monday that they will go on strike on Thursday if they cannot reach an agreement with the district over contracts.
Union reps say they are frustrated after being without a contract since November and feel like negotiations have made little to no progress.
Last week, the teachers union voted to go on an “unfair labor practice strike” if the district did not meet their needs and stalled negotiations.
“On May 4, if we do not have an agreement with the district, we are going to strike over their unfair labor practice,” said Oakland Education Association Interim President Ismael “Ish” Armendariz. “This means that over 3,000 educators will be on the picket lines.”
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The thousands of educators include teachers, school psychologists and other union staff members.
Negotiations took a bad turn Sunday when the union claims the district showed up late, and unprepared.
Oakland education association’s interim president says his bargaining teams have done all they can to negotiate in good faith, but he said the district did not budge on key issues again Monday.
Educators are calling for a 22% pay raise. The union says the district offered a tentative 10% raise proposal including a one-time $5,000 payment.
But teachers are also asking for upgrades to their facility, including repairs at schools like Success Academy High School to address a rat infestation, repairing ceilings and leaky bathrooms.
A mom with two children in OUSD schools, and a high school senior who gained national attention for his climate activism, said they support the teachers' requests for a better contract and demands for fair negotiations.
“It hurts us to see this happen to our teachers. They do not deserve this. They deserve to be treated fairly and equally,” said Tahnee Camacho, OUSD parent.
“Without my teachers, I wouldn’t be here and be the amazing person I am today. So right now I want to say I support my teachers and I have their backs, because they have always had mine,” said student Ra’Mauri Cash Hamilton
In a recorded statement last week, Oakland Unified superintendent, Kyla Johnson-Trammell, said it would be inappropriate to strike while the district is still negotiating in good faith.
Oakland Unified sent the following statement following the announcement:
“OUSD is disappointed to hear that OEA has elected to announce that their members may go on strike starting this Thursday, May 4. We are pleased to hear that OEA will continue to negotiate with us at the bargaining table. We look forward to reaching an agreement that benefits our students, educators, and District. We appreciate the hard work of both negotiating teams as they have worked nearly non-stop to come to a resolution. Our team has remained at the bargaining table daily since Thursday and is committed to continuing to work in good faith toward a contract that works for both sides. We remain optimistic that we will collectively come to a resolution in time to prevent the teachers from hitting the picket lines, and keeping our kids in school.”
A union bargaining rep told NBC Bay Area he’s not that optimistic because the district hasn’t come to the table with any meaningful offers on issues like class sizes and student services in previous sessions.
Oakland Education Association negotiator, Michael Rodriguez, said day classes for special education students were cut at his school with no notice to teachers even as the union was negotiating for protections for those services.
“We found out through crying parents that came to our school, ‘why does my son have to find a new school?’ so, this is the situation we’re facing, we’re asking for things, but they’re cutting things behind our back,” said Rodriguez.
He said that is how talks with the district have gone from that start and the union says if they don’t get a good agreement in writing before Thursday, teachers will walk with just three weeks left in the school year.
