Screengrab from a Fresno Teachers Association YouTube video

This story was originally published by Fresnoland, a nonprofit news organization.

Fresno Unified teachers overwhelmingly approved the labor strike that the union has been threatening for months if the district didn’t come up with a compromise.

The strike begins Nov. 1.

Manuel Bonilla, president of the Fresno Teachers Association, said Tuesday that he did not know how long the strike would last. He also left the door open to the possibility of reaching a deal before the planned Nov. 1 walkout.

The strike was approved by about 93.5% of the roughly 3,700 teachers who voted, the union reported.

Voting for the Fresno Unified strike kicked off at a rally last week with more than 3,000 educators at the Fresno Fairgrounds and continued through Monday afternoon.

Now, thousands of the district’s teachers plan to picket later this school year.

Despite the latest offer from the district featuring 19% pay bumps – through a combination of ongoing and one-time payments – and a new pathway to lifetime medical care benefits, union leaders say they’re holding out for a salary increase that better contends with inflation, as well as class size caps and reduction of special education caseloads.

The district plans to keep school open for the over 70,000 students in the system and deploy thousands of substitute teachers at a pay rate of $500 a day if teachers strike.

Henry said that Fresno Unified had roughly 2,200 substitutes certified, finger-printed, and background-checked as of Oct. 20. They anticipate needing 200 more to cover classrooms but plan to deploy management staff to fill in the gaps.

It’s the first strike for Fresno Unified teachers since 1978.

What should parents know about the Fresno Unified strike?

In addition to keeping schools open during a strike, Nelson said Wednesday that buses will still take students to and from school.

The Fresno Teachers Association primarily represents the district’s teachers, social workers, and nurses. Other employees like bus drivers, represented by separate unions, aren’t legally allowed to participate in a “sympathy strike” due to language in their own contracts and could be disciplined for walking off the job, Nelson said.

Meanwhile, extracurricular activities like sports games and field trips are likely to be canceled. The district may make an exception for high school sports, Henry told Fresnoland on Wednesday, but only if they can do so safely.

Students who stay home from class during the strike will not have their absences excused, district leaders shared Wednesday.

Grades students receive during the strike will be recorded per usual and won’t be made up or modified after the fact, the district shared in September.

What has happened in Fresno teachers contract talks so far?

Over the past year-and-a-half of bargaining, tensions have often been high between the district and FTA.

The district and union participated in mediation and a fact-finding hearing in early September after declaring an impasse in negotiations with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board.

Don Raczka, author of the fact-finding report that followed the hearing, wrote that both parties engaged in “disrespectful behaviors” during the mediation process and called for a restoration of trust through the “Interest Based Bargaining” approach to negotiations.

Both Superintendent Bob Nelson and Bonilla have spoken to the erosion of trust on both sides leading up to the union’s strike vote.
Two days after the strike vote began, FTA filed an unfair practice charge against the district with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board. Union leaders accused district administrators of intimidating teachers from participating in a strike, citing labor laws that protect their right to do so.