Teachers Strike in Sacramento After Talks Fail

About 2,500 teachers, counselors and nurses on Tuesday rejected the Sacramento City Unified School District’s offer and went on strike on the first day of classes after negotiations that stretched into the early morning.

In the nearby San Juan School District, however, teachers earlier agreed to postpone their threatened strike while they seek the help of a mediator in their talks. And in San Jose, a tentative contract settlement was announced shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday. Talks continued in the San Francisco Unified School District, where no strike was threatened.

Negotiators in the 47,000-pupil Sacramento district worked through the Labor Day holiday to try to head off a strike. Talks broke down about 3 a.m. Tuesday, and teachers were on strike by 7 a.m., officials said.

Sacramento teachers voted overwhelmingly to reject an offer of a 13% pay boost tied to numerous concessions in working conditions and rights and benefits, or a 2% increase without the changes, union officials said.

“They thought the teachers would take it because it was a lot of money and would ignore all the snakes that were attached to it,” teacher association President Pat Walden said. “It was all those working condition losses that made the 13% unacceptable.”

Sacramento teachers were seeking a 12.7% pay hike this year and a retroactive 6.5% pay increase for 1988-1989. They have not had a raise for two years, Walden said.

In May, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District won a 24% pay increase over three years following a nine-day walkout.

Nationwide, more than 7,000 public school teachers were on strike in seven states Tuesday after the Labor Day holiday, the traditional end of summer and the start of the academic year in many states.

7,000 Teachers Out

Overall, more than 124,000 students were affected by the strikes by more than 7,000 teachers in California, Washington, Montana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. The disputes involved wages and fringe benefits as well as classroom issues such as class size and teacher autonomy.

Additional walkouts were considered likely in several Massachusetts districts.

In Idaho earlier Tuesday, 322 teachers at Coeur d’Alene reached a tentative agreement after an all-night negotiating session.

But in northwestern Washington, 8,400 Bellingham students will get an extended summer vacation as 550 teachers voted to strike for smaller classes and more money. Classes, which were scheduled to start Wednesday, were called off.