East Bay teachers strike ends — new contract after 3 weeks

After three weeks out of the classroom, more than 500 teachers, counselors, nurses, psychologists and speech therapists from the New Haven Unified School District will return to their posts Monday after voting Sunday to end the district’s first strike.

The vote was 302-200 (60% approval) to accept the new two-year contract, with 502 of the union’s 585 members casting ballots. They showed up throughout the afternoon at the Portuguese Community Hall in Union City — where a union Q&A from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m was followed by a voting period that lasted until 7 p.m.

“Our unity with each other on the picket lines was an incredible display of power that resulted in some real gains for our union,” Joe Ku’e Angeles, president of the New Haven union, said in a statement.

The statement also reflected the bitterness of a strike that began on May 20: “The vote should put the school board and new superintendent on notice that this is just the beginning and not the end,” Ku’e Angeles said.

Both sides spent nearly 200 hours at the bargaining table — including one session attended by Tony Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction — before agreeing to these terms:

3% pay increase effective Jan. 1, 2019.

A one-time pay increase of 2.5% for 2018-19.

1% pay increase effective July 1, 2019.

“Opportunities for retirees to earn full-year credit with 14 days of summer school or on student assessments.” This means that union members retiring this year won’t have their pension affected by the strike.

Paul Stickland, a secondgrade teacher at Delaine Eastin Elementary School, said he’s probably lost $3,000 to $4,000 because of the walkout. As he showed up for the union’s Q&A session, he said he planned to vote yes.

“The reason is because I believe our bargaining team did the best they could,” Stickland said, “We moved from zero to 4%, and that’s absolutely huge. We went into this with the district offering zero.”

He said he hopes the work stoppage would change how the school board funds the district and believes the teachers improved their relationship with students’ parents.

The strike in the district that serves about 11,000 students was suspended Friday after union negotiators and school officials reached a tentative pact.

There had been concern that the work stoppage could harm the future of high school seniors who have finals. Just about 1,200 students, a fraction of the district enrollment, have been attending school during the strike, officials said.

The labor strife may result in changes to the school board. On Tuesday, a group of parents announced their intent at the school board meeting to launch a recall effort against three trustees: Sharan Takhar Kaur, Lance Nishihira and Jeff Wang. Even with the strike settled, the union plans to help parents collect signatures.

“Our membership is furious” at the administration, said Lisa Duncanson, a science teacher at Delaine Eastin Elementary School. Asked for an example, she replied: “Its zero percent offer for most of the cycle was an absolute insult.”

District officials did not respond to a request for their reaction to the ratification vote. Chronicle staff writer John King

contributed to this report.