San Francisco is a town that loves organized labor.  The Board of Supervisors routinely passes labor-friendly resolutions, such as resolutions urging Head Start employees to allow their workers to unionize and opposing Assemblyman Keith Richman’s proposed ACA 5 (proposal to require new state workers to participate in a 401(k)-style system instead of the PERS system).  So it’s fun when San Francisco politicians are the target of an attack from their beloved labor union allies. 

San Francisco Superintendent of Schools, Arlene Ackerman, ticked off the unions this week by telling school district workers (custodians, cafeteria workers, secretaries, etc) that she plans to hire replacement workers if the union members strike, as they are threatening to do.  She intends on asking the school board to approve her replacement worker plan at their meeting this week.

The board was supposed to meet last Tuesday night.  However, union member took over the school board’s meeting room, refusing to allow the board’s meeting to begin.  It was entertaining to watch the board members struggle with the situation. You just know that they were majorly conflicted between the responsibilities of their board position and their fundamental Bay Area liberal support of all things related to organized labor.  The board chair would not officially declare the meeting to be disrupted, which kept police from arresting the protesters.  Instead, a new meeting was scheduled for tonight, although union reps say that they will be there to protest again.

What’s the union’s beef? 

The union wants a 4.5 percent raise over the next two years and FREE employee health care, with the district paying 75 percent of dependent care.  The district has responded by offering a 4 percent raise and no change to the current health care coverage (free for employees, 80 percent coverage for one dependent and 60 percent for additional dependents). 

The district even offered the union a choice:  a 2 percent raise, combined with free health care for the employee and one dependent, and 75 percent coverage for other dependents. 

School districts all over the state are struggling to stay afloat, yet teachers and other unionized school workers act like there is a never-ending supply of money (of course, with the Dems in charge of the Legislature, there IS no end to money for education, no matter how badly spent it is).  Oakland teachers (working for a financially bankrupt district) are threatening to strike as well, because the district wants to keep their health care coverage at the current coverage rate.

Hats off to Ackerman for being willing to hire new workers if the union actually strikes.  It’s not an easy position to take in that city.  It will be interesting to see if the school board members will show a little courage tonight and have the union protesters arrested if they refuse to allow the board to meet again.  And if they will back Ackerman’s proposal to deal with striking workers.  The district has clearly been negotiating in a fair manner.  I say, let ’em strike and bring on the replacement workers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2005 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.