In an unprecedented show of solidarity in Solano County, more than 400 members of three unions representing teachers and other Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District employees held a rally June 1 to protest the slow progress of salary negotiations.

 

The rally was held outside the Fairfield City Council chambers just as the school board was about to meet. Joining union and community leaders speaking out at the rally was an official of the California Labor Federation.

 

The 1,200 teachers represented by the Fairfield-Suisun Unified Teachers Association (F-SUTA) have worked under an expired contract since July 2005 and have been negotiating for a new contract since April of that year. They reached a formal bargaining impasse March 17 of this year.

 

Working under similar conditions are members of the California School Employees Association and the Maintenance Operations Supervisors' union. The unions have joined with F-SUTA in demanding a fair salary settlement for all employees in the 22,000-student district.

 

"Attracting and retaining qualified teachers and other employees is the most important goal of a school district," says F-SUTA President Mike Oxley. "This rally of solidarity is reminding the school board that without district employees, there can be no school programs. We all deserve more respect at the bargaining table for the work we do."

 

Negotiations have dragged on and on. The school district dragged out bargaining for a year before their latest offer was finally put on the table. This offer to teachers is 3.5 percent, including all health benefits, which means that educators would receive less than 2 percent in actual salary increases.

 

Since their 10-day strike in 2001, Fairfield-Suisun teachers have received raises totaling only 2 percent. During the same period, the unrestricted funds received by the district has increased 14.4 percent and administrative salaries have increased as much as 74.5 percent. The superintendent, who took office in July, received a 27 percent increase over his immediate predecessor.

 

Since last summer, the construction of a new district office was approved at a cost of $14.5 million. Even with these costs, the district has millions of dollars more in reserves than the state-recommended 3 percent prudent reserve level.