Teachers' Vote Backs Strike

West Contra Costa teachers' vote backs strike
Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, November 12, 2009

The threat of a strike hung over West Contra Costa Unified schools Wednesday, a day after an election recount confirmed district teachers narrowly rejected a contract that would have drastically cut benefits and pay. The district's teachers were given two choices: Vote yes to approve the contract or no to support a strike.

A majority of teachers voting checked no. The vote was 701 - 671. Some teachers reportedly complained that the two options appeared to eliminate the possibility of returning to the bargaining table for a better offer.


District Superintendent Bruce Harter said Wednesday morning that despite the official language of the vote, he hoped both sides would sit back down to tweak the contract language to address teacher concerns without increasing district costs. That could include offering better health coverage for families while decreasing benefits for single teachers, Harter said.

Such a compromise could respect the wishes of the union's 1,858 teachers while keeping the district from going under, the superintendent said. "This is a just a hard time for our employees," he said. "Our teachers are underpaid to begin with, and now we're taking things away from them."

Schools and the office of the United Teachers of Richmond were closed Wednesday for Veterans Day. Calls to union President Pixie Hayward Schickele were not returned. On Tuesday evening, after the recount, a stunned Hayward Schickele said she didn't know what the vote would mean.

The district serves 30,000 students in Richmond, Hercules, Pinole, El Cerrito, San Pablo and unincorporated west Contra Costa County. E-mail Jill Tucker at jtucker@sfchronicle.com.=