Sacramento City Schools Strike Day 1: What's On The Table And What Happens Next?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- Hundreds of teachers and staff were joined by community supporters and Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) families on the picket lines Wednesday morning for the first official day of a strike.
Negotiations between the Sacramento City Teachers Association and SCUSD did not result in an agreement, according to both parties. In separate negotiations, the SEIU Local 1021 Chapter is also in negotiations with SCUSD and joined SCTA in the strike.
Unlike 2019, the last time SCTA went on a one-day strike, they are joined by SEIU and will not go back to school until an agreement is met, according to their union website. SCUSD announced all schools would close in response to the strike, unable to open.
Athletic practices, competitions, and extracurricular activities are also canceled for the duration of the strike.
On Wednesday, when students would typically be at school, many parents went to McKinley Park to enjoy the sunshine and the time off.
"It's hard for everyone," said Todd Bouer, a grandparent with a granddaughter in SCUSD. He stepped in Tuesday night when his son and daughter-in-law learned schools would close but still had to work.
"It's hard to adjust your life so quickly," said Bouer.
He noted, however, his family is lucky because his work schedule is flexible. Other families are making arrangements "on the fly."
"We're just trying to finagle our work schedules to work with this. It's a pretty big inconvenience, but it's also kind of nice to just be out in the middle of the day," said John Bafus, who was at the park Wednesday with his daughter and her best friend.
Bafus said he supported the teachers and was able to carve out the first half of his Wednesday to go to the park with his daughter.
"Obviously the teachers should get what they want and they serve a really vital role in our lives, but we don't really have a game plan yet, it's gonna be something along the lines of unpaid time off, if it comes to it," said Bafus, who told CBS13 he supported the teachers.
What happens next?
According to the Sacramento City Teachers Association, the strike will last until an agreement is reached.
In an interview with CBS13 on Wednesday, SCUSD Superintendent Jorge Aguilar said he was "hopeful" that negotiations would startup at some point on Wednesday evening again.
What has the district offered?
SCUSD mediators have presented SCTA, according to Aguilar, with a plan that includes one-time bonuses, additional healthcare coverage, as well as pandemic-related pay.
On health coverage, SCUSD offered 100% health coverage to SCTA members and their immediate family, through Kaiser. On HealthNet, SCUSD will pay 80% of the cost difference of health coverage that is through Kaiser and the cost of a HealthNet plan. Employees that already have health coverage can opt-in to receive $3K per year in lieu of coverage through the district.
Pay increases and bonuses are outlined online.
