Sac City Schools Educators & Staff Go on Strike
Negotiators for SCUSD refuse to address key issues on the bargaining table related to staffing and student needs. Members of both the Sacramento City Teachers Association and SEIU Local 1021 will be on the picket lines and not in school today.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wed., March 23, 2022
Contact: SCTA Jamie Horwitz, 202-549-4921 (cell), jhdcpr@starpower.net
SEIU 1021 Jennie Smith-Camejo 510-710-0201, Jennie.Smith-Camejo@seiu1021.org
SACRAMENTO – The contract negotiations between the Sacramento City Teachers Association and the Sacramento City Unified School District broke off at 8:15 p.m., Tuesday evening with no resolution to a staffing crisis that has left 10,000 Sac City students without a permanent teacher on a daily basis. District negotiators refused to accept the findings of a neutral fact-finder’s report that advised the superintendent and school board to increase wages for educators and not to seek concessions from teachers and staff tied to health insurance. The district has also refused to come to the bargaining table with classified staff before March 30, despite daily requests from SEIU 1021, and have yet to respond to proposals made in October.
As a result of the district’s intransigence, this morning 2,800 teachers and other educators represented by SCTA joined by an additional 1,800 school classified employees represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1021 are on strike.
Picket lines are being set up this morning outside schools and work sites. Beginning at 7 a.m., members and officers of SCTA will be joined on the picket line at McClatchy High School. Parents and community supporters also will be picketing.
A rally for all district educators will be held in front of the Serna Center beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
WHO/WHAT/WHERE/WHEN:
Teachers and other district employees represented by SCTA and SEIU Local 1021 will walk picket lines at schools and work sites this morning.
At 7 a.m. there will be media availability with union leaders including SCTA president David Fisher, SEIU 1021 SCUSD chapter president Karla Fawcett, the vice president of the National Education Association Princess Moss, and the president of the California Teachers Association E. Toby Boyd outside McClatchy High School, 3066 Freeport Boulevard, Sacramento.
From 11 a.m. – noon a large gathering of striking educators and school staff with banners and picket signs will gather outside the Sacramento City Unified School District’s Serna Center, 5735 47th Avenue, Sacramento.
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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).
For more information, visit www.sacteachers.org
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 diverse, 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.