SEIU union at Sacramento City Unified sets strike date. Teachers plan sympathy strike

The union representing hundreds of workers in the Sacramento City Unified School District announced a two-day strike, after the union and district officials could not agree on child care, stipends and physical distancing guidelines. The Sacramento City Teachers Association pledged their support to join with a sympathy strike.

More than 90% of the 1,900 SEIU 1021 members voted to reject the district’s proposal on how to safely return to campus, and set a date to strike on April 22 and April 23.

The strike date falls on the the first day middle and high school students are returning to their campuses for the first time in more than a year. About 58% students in the district have returned or are returning to in-person instruction.

The union, which represents 150 classifications including bus drivers, custodians, food workers and technology support, plans to strike at all campuses in the morning and then meet for a larger rally at noon.

District officials said they believe the strike is inconsistent with labor law, as the district declared an impasse in negotiations with SEIU 1021 through the Public Employment Relations Board, saying it was unable to meet the demands set forth by the labor unit. PERB granted the district’s request and moved both parties into mediation.

The union says they are striking because of an unfair labor practice, which they said took place when the district called an impasse.

“When you bargain, it’s a give and take situation, and we were still in the process of doing that,” said SEIU 2012 President Karla Faucett.

The district is asking SEIU to proceed with the mediation process, and in a statement to The Sacramento Bee “urged them not to block our students’ right to an in-person education.”

“We never wanted it to get this far,” Faucett said. “All we wanted was the district to come to the table and bargain rationally. They don’t compromise.”

SCTA officials met teachers union worksite representatives on Tuesday and announced to members it will honor the picket line and stand in solidarity with the classified union.

”We stand in solidarity with our hard-working classified co-workers as the fight back against Superintendent (Jorge) Aguilar’s unlawful attempt to roll back health and safety standards for students and classified staff, and will be striking in sympathy if necessary,” read a statement from the SCTA. “We urge the school board to direct Superintendent Aguilar to return immediately to the bargaining table and reach a fair agreement that preserves high safety standards for students and staff.”

SEIU reopening demands

The union asked the district to provide child care and N95 masks, as well as stipends and reimbursable expenses for employees with children ages 3 to 14 who could not bring their child to work; district officials said the full menu of stipends the union has requested added up to roughly $4,000.

SEIU asked that employees with children under the age of 14 be able to work remotely and that all members be given a stipend.

Later, SEIU also asked for $125 weekly stipends for parents with children under the age of 14 who can’t bring their child to work and need help paying for child care or the option to work remotely.

The district is offering $2,850 in stipends for returning to work, which includes $1,000 in prorated bonuses to those who have worked on-site since July, as well as options for employees to bring their school-age children to campus under certain circumstances, the same offer given to teachers. But Faucett said many SEIU members work jobs that are either dangerous or impractical for children to be around, including campus security and lawn mowing.

The district provided informational resources to help members locate child care. And the district said that N95 masks are available when union members place a request with risk management and take a fit test to ensure the mask is fitted properly.

“We recognize that childcare remains a challenge, for parents everywhere,” read a statement from the district. “This is a national and statewide issue that needs to be addressed. But blocking the doors of schools and the access of our students to an in-person education is not the right way to go about it. This is especially true for a district that serves vulnerable students, with 70 percent of Sacramento City Unified students low income, foster youth, homeless and English language learners. They need our schools open; we know they serve as safe havens for so many of our students.”

The SEIU union also wanted their physical distancing agreement to mirror SCTA’s 6-foot spacing.

“We want to go back to work and we love our kids,” Faucett said. “But we want to be safe. How does it look to have a teacher six feet away from students and an instructional aide is three feet away?”

The CDC originally recommended students and staff be spaced 6 feet apart, but that recommendation has since changed to just 3 feet, following research that there was no difference in Covid-19 infection rates between schools that mandated 3 feet of physical space compared with 6. The district has since asked the SCTA to meet and confer over a possible change, but the union said their MOU does not “conflict” with CDC guidelines.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new figures and details on the dollar value of SEIU’s requests of the school district and what district officials were offering the union.

This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 11:48 AM.