Los Angeles, San Francisco Teachers Unions OK Strikes Over Pay, Staffing Demands

Teachers unions in Los Angeles and San Francisco are ready to strike following nearly a year of contract negotiations that have stalled over demands like pay and staffing.

If San Francisco educators walk out, it will be the city’s first teacher strike in nearly 50 years. United Educators of San Francisco approved a walkout with the second of two nearly unanimous votes last week. Its bargaining team is expected to decide within 10 days whether it will strike. 

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

United Teachers of Los Angeles, which represents more than 35,000 educators in California’s largest school district, has been in negotiations since February 2025. Both parties clashed over pay raises and declared an impasse in December. A strike vote passed with a 94% member approval on Monday. 

With 6,500 members, United Educators of San Francisco has been negotiating with the district since March. The union asked for a 14% pay increase for support staff and 9% for teachers over two years, along with improvements to health care coverage, special education teacher workloads and family housing. 

“We remain prepared to hear any real solutions the district may formally bring to the table that will stabilize our district for our students, educators and families,” the union said in a statement Tuesday. 

The San Francisco Unified School District has proposed a 2% yearly increase, totaling 6% over three years. It said on Saturday that a $102 budget deficit makes it impossible to meet the union’s demands.

“Any raises above the current proposals from the district will force further cuts at school sites that will impact the district’s ability to serve all of its students long-term,” the district said.

The union argues that San Francisco Unified recently allocated $111 million to its rainy-day fund, “money members say needs to be directed back to classrooms and school sites.”

In Los Angeles, the union is seeking an 18% immediate pay raise with a 3% bump the second year of the contract. Los Angeles Unified offered two consecutive raises of 2.5% and 2% and a one-time payment of 1% of an employee’s salary. A strike deadline has not yet been set.

Cheryl Coney, the union’s executive director, wrote in a Dec. 3 letter to the district that drastic raises are needed because more than 20% of members qualify for low-income housing and roughly one-third leave Los Angeles Unified by their fifth year on the job. 

The union claimed the district can afford pay increases with a $5 billion reserve, but officials said budget constraints recently worsened because of enrollment declines, the expiration of pandemic aid and increased operating costs. The district’s budget projects a $1.6 billion deficit by the 2027-28 school year.

“We recognize the real financial strain on educators and staff but must make difficult decisions to preserve classrooms, student services and long-term stability within finite resources,” the district said in a Jan. 31 statement. “This moment calls for collaboration between all parties to reach a sustainable resolution.”

The Los Angeles and San Francisco superintendents joined representatives of five other school districts in a signed open letter Monday that asked advocates, nonprofits and lawmakers to help campaign for more funding from the state. 

“Educators and staff deserve to feel valued and supported, and districts recognize and respect those realities,” the letter says. “At the same time, school systems cannot spend resources they do not receive, nor can local negotiations resolve statewide enrollment trends or the loss of temporary federal funding.”

The strike votes in Los Angeles and San Francisco come amid a coordinated campaign by the California Teachers Association, focusing negotiations in 32 districts statewide around three key issues: wages, staffing and student stability — meaning fewer layoffs and school closures. The We Can’t Wait campaign also aims to pressure the state to improve school funding.

A recent report from the statewide union found that 88% of educators identified insufficient school funding and low pay as serious issues for 2026.

Several California teachers unions already walked out of the classroom this school year or are close to striking. United Teachers of Richmond, located north of San Francisco, staged a four-day strike in December. Five Sacramento-area unions — Natomas, Twin Rivers, Rocklin, Woodland Joint and Washington — are at an impasse, along with Madera Unified Teachers Association in central California and Berkeley Federation of Teachers.

More than 90% of San Diego Education Association members recently authorized a one-day unfair labor practice strike for Feb. 26. The union said it’s protesting what it characterized as San Diego Unified’s repeated contract violations regarding special education staffing caseloads.