Why everyone should support the San Francisco educators’ strike
Today, over 6,000 educators have walked out on strike for the first time in 1979. This is a strike for everyone.
More than 6,500 educators with United Educators of San Francisco are on strike! But this isn’t just a fight for educators — it’s a fight for every working person in this country. Working people are being crushed by the cost of living crisis — the educators are taking a stand for a decent life! And they’re not just bargaining for themselves. This strike can win crucial protections for students and their families.
The educators’ strike deserves the support of all working people in this city, and all across the country. Wherever you work or live, the basic outline of this struggle looks familiar. On one side, there are people who provide an essential service to the community, and yet are being denied a decent standard of living. On the other side there are politicians and high-ranking bureaucrats who don’t have to worry about making rent or affording a doctor visit, but nonetheless are in a position to make all the big decisions affecting people who do.
There is an affordability crisis raging across the country, and San Francisco is one of the epicenters. Working families are being crushed under the weight of relentlessly rising prices. Every time we go to the grocery store, we all feel the squeeze of this crisis. The price of healthcare is outrageous, and may skyrocket even further depending on the fate of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Heating bills and other utilities are putting even more pressure on households’ finances. Childcare is astronomically expensive.
In San Francisco, the median rent is over $3,000 a month. That’s an 11.5% increase from the last year – several times higher than the national inflation rate and certainly far higher than the growth in people’s paychecks. The income level required to afford the basics of life are eye-watering. MIT estimates that a living wage in San Francisco for a family of four where both parents are employed is $54.77 an hour – meaning a combined household income of about $220,000 a year.
This state of affairs cannot go on. But the politicians who run the government and the billionaires who dominate the economy are not about to suddenly grow a conscience. We can’t appeal to their sense of good will or decency – we have to fight.
The ultra-wealthy and their bought-and-paid-for politicians and media outlets will try to pit workers who are paid even less against educators. Or they will cynically make points along the lines of “why should educators get a raise when you aren’t getting a raise”. We have to reject this logic that tears apart unity.
The reality is that whenever one part of the working class fights and secures gains that improve their lives, this makes it easier for all other workers to do the same. The existence of higher wages in one workplace strengthens the bargaining power of workers in all workplaces. And it contributes to an atmosphere in the country where employers know that they can’t kick around their employees without facing any consequences.
And on top of demanding fair wages and decent healthcare as compensation for the vital public service they provide, the educators are raising demands for programs that benefit the community as a whole. United Educators of San Francisco wants to include in their contract guarantees that strengthen the sanctuary status of schools. It is unconscionable that ICE and other federal agencies would target schools as they carry out their violent campaign of mass deportations nationwide. By enshrining the “sanctuary district” policy into the legally-binding contract between the city and UESF, the union is making it harder for Trump administration officials to pressure local authorities into giving in if they come under federal pressure.
Another important demand from UESF is the preservation of the Stay Over Program. This program allows families of homeless students to receive emergency shelter at certain schools when classes are not in session. It is an outrage that any child has to experience homelessness, but it is an increasingly common phenomenon as the cost of housing spirals out of control.
When educators, parents, students and the broader community unite, we can win the kind of school system that our city deserves and ensure that everyone who works to make it run can live a decent life. If the educators’ strike wins, then it sets us all up to win. No matter how long this fight takes, everyone in this city and beyond needs to reject any attempt to break the solidarity of working people.