The Oakland Education Association (OEA) announced Tuesday the results of a vote to go on a potential unfair labor practice strike.
For months, they have been in negotiations with the district and say OUSD has been acting unlawfully and unprofessional.
A total of 88% of the members of the OEA voted to go to strike for a fair contract, if necessary.
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“The Oakland Unified School district's bad faith bargaining has been disrespectful to our educators and communities, 87% of our members participated in a strike election and 88% voted 'yes' to authorize a strike,” said Ismael Armendariz, interim president of OEA.
The association said this is a last resort after six months of negotiations with the school district.
“We have taken the vote, but we really want to avoid a strike and we’re asking them to come to the table and bargain in good faith,” said Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, second vice president of the OEA. “This is something we can avoid but we have the votes to be able to call a strike if necessary.”
In response, Oakland Unified said in part, “The district looks forward to continuing our efforts to reach an agreement with OEA that honors our educators and best supports our students' learning. We will continue to do everything possible to avoid a work stoppage."
Sara Shepich is one of the teachers that supports the strike. Most teachers in Oakland are under the OEA, which means at least 2,600 district employees would be part of the strike
“I will definitely be participating. I voted ‘yes’ to the strike because we were in this place where we’re not getting what we need from the district so it’s either settle or to go on.
The union and the district are expected to meet again this Thursday.
