Our strike with our union sisters and brothers of Sacramento City Teachers Association starts tomorrow morning. 

While a strike is always a last resort, SCUSD management’s refusal to negotiate in good faith a contract that will address the staffing crisis in our district by retaining and recruiting employees has left us no other choice.

Our working conditions are student learning conditions. Our students will also benefit in the long term from fully-staffed schools where they can get the education, services, and support they need and deserve.

Please plan on joining us on the picket lines at your regular worksite tomorrow morning as we shut it down! Please arrive 45 minutes BEFORE start of business.

See below for answers to some frequently asked questions about striking.

Click here to send an email to the school board and tell them that every student deserves a teacher and a fully-staffed school.

Strike FAQs

When does our strike begin and end?

• If we and SCTA are unable to reach a fair agreement with SCUSD before the beginning of the workday tomorrow, our strike will begin tomorrow. It will end when District management decides to come back to the negotiating table willing to reach a fair agreement that will address the staffing crisis by helping the District retain and recruit classified staff and educators. We know that this cannot be accomplished with the District’s current proposals and demands for takeaways. 
• Please make sure to keep an eye on your personal email and texts for updates.
• Please know that ALL SEIU classifications are striking for ALL shifts, regardless of which shift(s) you work.

What is a ULP strike, anyway?

• A ULP strike, like the one we voted by 97% to authorize earlier this month, is a decision to withhold labor in response to unfair (and illegal) labor practices and is considered protected activity under state law.

Can I be legally disciplined or fired for participating in a ULP strike?

• NO. ULP strikes are protected activity, and it is illegal to retaliate against you for participating. SEIU 1021 has a lot of experience with protecting workers who strike. Our experience has been that SEIU 1021 members don’t get fired for striking. To be clear, if people do something that would normally be grounds for termination unrelated to the strike, their participation in the strike wouldn’t protect them.

Do probationary employees have a right to strike?

• Probationary employees have the same rights to strike and honor picket lines as permanent employees. It is illegal to discipline or terminate an employee because of union activity. Because probationary employees do not typically have access to the contract grievance procedure, the union would have to address any illegal discipline or intimidation through the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Please document and report to the union any intimidation that you may be subjected to by the District or its agents. 

What about our contract’s “no strike clause”?

• Our last contract expired in 2020, so the “no strike” clause does not apply.

My supervisor wants to know if I will be coming to work when the strike happens. What should I do? 

• You don’t have to tell your supervisor in advance if you plan to strike. You have the right not to be intimidated or interrogated about the strike.

Can I just call in sick or stay home?

• No. Management is likely to be suspicious of a sick call on the day of a ULP strike. A strike is not a day off. It is a different kind of workday where we show up on the picket line - this is what we need to do in order to get a fair contract that addresses the staffing crisis. 
• We will win a better contract by showing our power with everyone on the picket lines. Strikes put public pressure on employers because the public realizes that things must be really wrong for workers to be willing to sacrifice their pay by taking the step to go on strike.
• Wear your union T-shirt (or a purple shirt) and report to the picket line at your worksite. 

If I strike, will I lose pay or benefits?

• If you participate in the strike, you will not be paid for the time you are on strike. However, there will be no break in health benefits. 

What about the students?

• The students are why we’re all here. Teacher strikes have driven the rise in strikes in recent years. The public school teachers who have struck are just like us—they wouldn’t do it unless they thought their students would benefit in the long run. Like staff and teachers, our students have also suffered from the anti-worker practices and misplaced priorities of SCUSD. 

Has SCUSD management proposed raises?

• NO. In fact, SCUSD management has still not responded to the wage proposals we put on the table in October. They refused to negotiate with us over the weekend to try to avoid a strike. They have not even provided a single day they will be available for bargaining until March 30. Unfortunately, this is all typical of District management’s bad-faith approach to these contract negotiations.
• The proposal SCUSD management made to SCTA yesterday, after meeting for one hour, offered a 2% raise that would be paid for by huge cuts to healthcare coverage, even though the neutral fact-finder concluded that the District should offer the same cost-of-living adjustments they are paying the superintendent this year (5.6%). 
• So far for classified staff, District management has proposed only takeaways–and not even at the negotiating table, but in school board meeting agendas and on their website.

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