West Contra Costa schools creep closer to a new agreement as political pressure grows amid strike

RICHMOND — With pressure mounting for West Contra Costa Unified School District to pen a deal with its teachers union, both sides say progress toward a new contract has been made as the union’s strike drags on.

United Teachers of Richmond, which represents more than 1,400 teachers, psychologists, speech pathologists and other education professionals, marked the fourth day of its strike Tuesday with early morning picket lines and an afternoon rally.

The union’s demands have largely remained unchanged since negotiations with the district began about 10 months ago. Its members want better pay, health care benefits, student to staff ratios and other workplace improvements that they say will help recruit and retain staff.

The changes, members say, will ultimately benefit the 28,000 students enrolled in the dozens of schools across El Cerrito, San Pablo, Richmond, Pinole and Hercules.

“Thank you to every single UTR member, every community member, every family, every student, who has been in this fight with us. You have given us the strength to continue to fight on and win the contract that our students deserve,” United Teachers of Richmond President Francisco Ortiz said at a rally outside the district administration building Tuesday.

A shift in bargaining over the weekend showed the large divide between the union’s demands and district’s offerings were shrinking substantially.

The district’s latest offer included a 7% raise split over two years, an increase from the 0% and 2% figures offered months ago. The district has also offered to contribute more to health care benefits, rising from the current 80% contribution to 100% by 2028.

The same salary increases were included in a tentative agreement being weighed by Teamsters Local 856, which represents about 1,400 support staff from cafeteria workers to security who had also been picketing alongside United Teachers of Richmond. Their strike was suspended over the weekend, but some members continued to picket Monday in solidarity with teachers.

“Because of your strength and solidarity as Teamsters, we have achieved more than we thought possible. We want to thank you for holding the line, standing strong and being a Teamster,” Teamsters Local 856 leadership said in a negotiation update.

United Teachers of Richmond has also shifted slightly, now asking for a 5% raise retroactively dated to July 1, and a 4% raise beginning July 2026. The total 9% raise is 1% lower than previously requested.

But key issues around special education have kept the parties from agreement, said Gabrielle Micheletti, a bargaining member who teaches at Verde Elementary. The union would like to see an additional paraeducator staffing each of the district’s special education classrooms and reduced caseloads for other experts like speech pathologists and nurses.

Having faced decades of fiscal uncertainty, district leadership has routinely warned that meeting the union’s demands could lead to additional budget cuts in the future. The district has already had to promise to make nearly $33 million in budget cuts or else risk losing local control to the Contra Costa County Office of Education.

The parties returned to the bargaining table Tuesday afternoon, two days after their last negotiation meeting Saturday.

Superintendent Cheryl Cotton said in a statement Monday evening that the district needed time to evaluate what the union’s counter proposal would cost the district.

“We cannot responsibly enter a discussion with the Board or UTR without all necessary information to ensure productive meetings. Frankly, meeting with UTR to review their counterproposal without having the facts regarding costs would not help to expedite a settlement,” Cotton said. “We are all eager and hopeful to reach an agreement.”

The number of elected officials weighing in on the issue has steadily increased since the strike began Dec. 4.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who previously served as a trustee for the West Contra Costa Unified School District and as a Richmond councilmember, offered to assist with negotiations in a statement Sunday.

Thurmond said he wanted to see teachers get the best contract they can within what the district can afford in a video shared on social media by United Teachers of Richmond on Monday evening.

“Everybody wants the same thing. Let’s get this done. Let’s get this strike solved,” Thurmond said, flanked by union members and Supervisor John Gioia.

Gioia also joined Ortiz at the rally in Civic Center Plaza on Monday to call for the district to return to the bargaining table, a message he said he communicated directly to Cotton on Monday morning.

“We will continue watching this and fighting until schools reopen, until we have an agreement. It is about safe staffing for students, it’s about quality education and it’s about, frankly, compensation for teachers as well,” said Gioia, who noted he and his children attended schools in the district and his father taught at Kennedy High School.

Richmond Councilmember Soheila Bana also spoke in support of United Teachers of Richmond during the Monday rally. Mayor Eduardo Martinez and councilmembers Doria Robinson and Claudia Jimenez were also speakers during rallies held the first two days of the strike.

The rallies have also featured speeches from students who’ve shared concerns about learning conditions and teacher turnover, parents worried about a lack of support from the district office and leadership from unions up and down the state who spoke in solidarity with United Teachers of Richmond.

Councilmember Sue Wilson marched with United Teachers of Richmond on Friday afternoon. El Cerrito Mayor Carolyn Wysinger visited the picket line outside El Cerrito High School on the first day of the strike.

Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy, the most outspoken supporter of the union’s cause of those on the school board, said in a social media post Saturday that he feels hopeful the parties are “finally moving in the right direction” and the strike will be over soon.

“The future is uncertain, and we will face incredibly difficult decisions. But those decisions must and will center our kids,” Gonzalez-Hoy said. “This moment is testing us, but it is also giving us the chance to rebuild trust and recommit to the public schools our students deserve. I love this community.”