A Call to Action

We call on teachers, students, the community and workers, to actively support UTR's contract struggle and fight for quality education for the students in WCCUSD. The Progressive Teachers have reached out to the communities of West County and asked them to support their teachers.

The Berkeley Federation of Teachers # 1078 National Substitute Teacher Alliance (NSTA) and the Chair of the Berkeley Commission on Labor pledged that no substitute teachers from Berkeley and San Francisco will scab or cross our picket lines if there is a strike.

The University of California Berkeley Student Workers Action Team (SWAT), UC Graduate students, members of AFSCME Local 444 East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), the California Association of Professional Scientists (CAPS), Oakland Education Association teachers, and workers from Berkeley joined us and distributed our community fliers in Richmond, San Pablo, Hercules, Pinole, and El Cerrito on Saturday, August 29th and Sunday, August 30th.

Union members from the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, ILWU Local 10, and ATU BART Local1555, have pledged to support our activities around our contract demands. We have joined with other unions in solidarity rallies against concessions, give backs, furloughs, and union busting. We must build a bottom- up grassroots movement for the working class so that we can fight back and win. We ask UTR members to join us in mobilizing the community and work with other unions who support our struggle.

The UTR Bargaining Team and the District met September 1st, the first meeting since April. Talks are set to continue on September 15th. Go to http://www.unitedteachersofrichmond.com to read about the recent negotiations.

We ask UTR members to participate in these labor events and actions:

On September 19, AFT 2121 and the San Francisco Labor Council will hold a Northern California meeting of all education unions and student groups at San Francisco State University to develop a united plan for action initiated by the United Public Workers Association (UPWA); UC Professors’ Call for a System Wide Walkout on September 24th to protest faculty furloughs, budget cuts, and student fee increases.; on Saturday, September 26th, the Defend Our Education Conference will be held at the San Francisco State University Student Union, Rosa Parks Room, at 1:00 PM.

UTR members should consider the impact of possible concessions on their income. Here are two examples. The number of furlough days (5) and term of the contract (3 years) are based on the recently rejected Local 1 tentative agreement.

The annual and daily rates are taken from Salary Schedule 8 for Teachers, Nurses, and Librarians.

A teacher in Range 1, Step 1
New hire with Credential Plus

Annual Salary, $40,297
Daily Rate, $217.82

5 furlough days =
$1089.10 reduced annual pay

For 3 years = $3,267.30 reduced pay A teacher in Range 2, Step 12,
Experienced

Annual Salary, $54,461
Daily rate, $294.38

5 furlough days =
$1471.90 reduced annual pay

For 3 years = $4,412.72 reduced pay


The potential reduced annual pay (5 furlough days) plus increased employee contributions for health insurance, particularly for dependents, mean that teachers will have less take-home pay to meet their families’ needs.
UTR members should follow the leadership of Local 1 rank and file members and reject a TA with concessions.

Contact Progressive Teachers @ 510-501-7347.