Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1545867
district superintendent resigned several weeks before the strike began. But after 13 months of non-existent negotiations and just four days into the strike, Ward says district administrators finally came to the table with an offer of fully paid health care. "But it had a sunset date, so it would be fully paid for the moment, and we said that's a non-starter," Ward says. "It was devastating — at that point, I didn't even know if we would be able to hold the line but of course, we did." On the eve of what would have been Day 13 of their strike, the two sides reached a compromise: fully paid Kaiser for educators and their families with no sunset, retroactive to the beginning of the school year. While it was a tough decision to let go of other parts of their proposal, Ward says it was worth it. " We saw members getting thousands of dollars back. I got emails and calls from crying members," Ward says. "A lot of our members couldn't afford to take health care and now they can, which is going to make a huge difference. Our open enrollment meetings have been packed with interested folks." Ward says TRUE's historic victory was powered by members who were commit- ted to each other for better, explaining that they had prepared for the moment with a comprehensive site visit program, expanded bargaining team, regular com- munication and nuts-and-bolts structure building. Together, they showed that educators united with community are unstoppable, even against a seemingly immovable school board dead-set on breaking the union. In West Sacramento, WSTA members were ready to join NTA and TRUE on the picket lines, with members voting near unanimously to authorize a strike and negotiations slowing to a halt at the bargaining table. Meanwhile, WSTA members were struggling with exorbitant health care costs, with some educators paying more than $1,700 a month for family coverage. While WSTA worked to educate the community about the issue, the school district and board seemed unconcerned — until they were, coming to an agreement before a strike that pro- vides fully paid Kaiser health care retroactive to January. "Fighting back for something we had — fully paid health care benefits — and restoring it, especially with its increased cost, is a huge win because that's going to be money in people's pockets." —United Teachers of Richmond President Francisco Ortiz Striking Natomas Teachers Assn. members, below, and Twin Rivers United Educators members, at right, demand fairness — and paid health care. 23 S U M M E R 2 0 26