
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The Oakland teachers' strike is over, but union leaders are predicting that there may be more educator walkouts statewide.
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David Goldberg, President Elect of the California Teachers Association, said with a possible recession around the corner, educators are not going to take cuts to school funding lying down.
"Last summer's economic downturn we had layoffs and we had furlough days, people were devastated and are just catching back up now. I'm not so sure there's going to be the appetite for that right now," he said.
In Oakland, teachers began their walkout almost two weeks ago on May 4, advocating for better compensation, student resources and "common good" demands. The Oakland Education Association announced Monday that educators had come to a tentative agreement with OUSD, ending the strike.
With remaining days in the school year waning, instruction resumed on Tuesday, just in time for end-of-year activities such as prom and graduation.
In the first five months of 2023, strikes have taken place at public schools in Oakland and Los Angeles. Since the beginning of the pandemic, nurses, engineers and other union members have also gone on strike. Goldberg told KCBS Radio these labor actions are to be expected when economic inequality is at an all-time high.
"I think what's happening here — this is the tip of the iceberg where educators are saying our students deserve more, we deserve more, we deserve to survive and so do our students," he explained.
While union membership is the lowest it’s been in decades, Goldberg added that interest in joining unions is rising amongst younger workers.
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