MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WED., MARCH 30

Contact: SCTA Jamie Horwitz, 202-549-4921 (cell), jhdcpr@starpower.net 

SEIU 1021 Jennie Smith-Camejo, 510-710-0201, Jennie.Smith-Camejo@seiu1021.org

Rather than narrowing issues to be discussed, with the support of the school board, Superintendent Aguilar upends the talks with SCTA by introducing new demands. SCUSD is now calling for more standardized tests and cuts to retiree benefits.

Educators, classified staff, parents and community supporters to hold rally TODAY, 11 am, Serna Center

SACRAMENTO – A strike by 4,600 Sacramento teachers and other school workers, members of the Sacramento City Teachers Association and SEIU Local 1021, extends to a sixth day. SCUSD’s schools will remain closed Wednesday, March 30.

SEIU 1021 Still Awaiting Counterproposals to Comprehensive Package as Low-Paid Workers Face Mounting Hardship

Tuesday, the SEIU 1021 bargaining team, representing Sac City Unified Schools classified staff such as instructional aides, nutrition service workers, school bus drivers, clerical staff, custodians, and maintenance workers, offered a comprehensive package of proposals to SCUSD management in an effort to move the negotiations process forward as quickly as possible.

The team is still waiting on counterproposals on the key issues that are driving the staffing crisis, such as low wages. Many classified staff make minimum wage or just above, sometimes decades into their careers at SCUSD. The District’s tactics of stalling and playing games at the bargaining table, presumably in hopes of waiting the striking workers out and breaking them, are translating into real impacts for these workers who live below or around the poverty line already and cannot afford to lose pay every day they are out on strike. A GoFundMe strike fund is crowdsourcing donations to provide some relief for striking staff in need, but the wages they have lost during the strike are a huge sacrifice. Nonetheless, these courageous workers keep returning to the picket lines every day, because they understand that nothing else will make the District do the right thing, and the status quo is simply untenable.

David Wong, an instructional aide at Luther Burbank High School and a member of the SEIU 1021 bargaining team, emailed the superintendent and school board members early Wednesday morning. In it, he described the work he does every day: working with students with learning disabilities, autism, and providing assistance to those who use wheelchairs, including helping with such activities as using the restroom. “Sometimes I have to take charge of the class because the teacher has to deal with one disruptive student or he has to attend an IEP meeting,” he explained. 

“Classified workers are indispensable workers who contribute to the daily operation of the school system. Many classified workers in your district are living in poverty. I am one of them. My monthly income is $1,641.46. I need to have roommates so that I can afford to live in the city of Sacramento,” he went on. 

He is concerned about his students, most of whom qualify for the free lunch program, and is eager to get back to work. But something has to change. “The classified workers want a fair contract with a livable wage and a good health benefit so that they can survive. I hope the school district will provide us a fair contract so that the school strike will end and the students can receive the essential services that they need.”

Setback in SCTA Bargaining Tuesday Night

Talks between SCTA and district negotiators went late into the night Tuesday. The talks between SCTA and SCUSD, which had been making slow progress over the weekend and Monday, shifted into reverse Tuesday when the district’s negotiators, led by Superintendent Jorge Aguilar, introduced two new issues. The district made demands for more standardized testing and a rollback in retiree benefits. At the same time, the district still refuses to accept the fact-finder’s proposed compromise designed to address the staffing crisis. Additionally, the district continues to demand a take-away in health insurance.

Rally Wednesday

Today, March 30, at 11 am at the Serna Center 5735 47th Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95824

Sac City educators, joined by parents and community supporters, will hold a rally and take their call for a fair contract to the superintendent and the SCUSD school board’s front yard. 

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SEIU Local 1021 represents nearly 60,000 employees in local governments, non-profit agencies, health care programs, and schools throughout Northern California, including seven private colleges and numerous community colleges. SEIU Local 1021 is a member-driven organization with members who work to make our cities, schools, colleges, counties, and special districts safe and healthy places to live and raise our families.

The Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) founded in 1921 represents 2,800 certificated educators, including K-12, special education, adult education and resource teachers; school nurses, librarians, psychologists, social workers, and including 600 substitute teachers.  SCTA is affiliated with the 310,000-member California Teachers Association and the 3 million-member National Education Association (NEA).