Ventura Unified Teachers and Other Workers Set December 2 as Planned Strike Date: District Serves Almost 14,000 Students, Health Care Is the Main Sticking Point
Ventura, Ventura County — Teachers and other school employees in Ventura will go on strike on December 2 if they have not agreed on a new union contract by then. The union for teachers and the union for other employees held a news conference on November 12 outside the Ventura Unified School District's adult education center, where union members and leaders announced the upcoming strike date.
Members of the two unions voted nearly unanimously last month to authorize a strike if they could not reach an agreement with the district on a new contract. With almost 14,000 students, Ventura Unified is the fourth largest school district in Ventura County. A strike would be the first in the district's history, and probably the first in the county's history, union officials said.
"We are ready to fight for a fair and equitable contract," said Carol Peek, president of the union for most non-teacher employees. "We are ready to strike for an agreement that we all deserve." Sarah McLaughlin, president of Ventura Unified's teachers union, said, "A strike is truly a last resort."
The two sides are still trying to avert a strike. The bargaining teams met twice earlier in the week, days before the union's announcement of the strike date, and both union and district officials said they will continue meeting to try to reach agreement before December 2.
If a strike happens, Ventura Unified schools will stay open and the district will hire substitute teachers, said Heather McGowan, a labor relations spokesperson for the district. The district expects that some parents will not send their children to school while teachers are on strike; the district will have an independent study program, and students who sign up for that program and complete their work will not be marked absent, McGowan said. McLaughlin said the teachers union is not encouraging parents to keep their children home if there is a strike.
The district and the unions have been negotiating their new contracts for the past year and have officially been at an impasse since May, according to a report by a neutral fact-finding committee issued on November 1. One of the unions, the one for non-teacher employees, has been working under an expired contract since 2025.
The two sides have agreed on the general contours of proposed pay raises, according to the fact-finding committee reports, with conceptual agreement on a 4 percent raise for all members of the teachers union and a 1 dollar an hour raise for all members of the union representing employees without teaching credentials. The major sticking point is health care coverage: Ventura Unified employees have traditionally not paid monthly premiums, the district wants to end that practice, and it is proposing to pay the full monthly premium for the district's basic plan with Kaiser Permanente, which costs the district about 23,000 dollars per year per person, while employees would pay for anything more expensive than that plan. The fact-finding committee recommends a joint management and union committee to control health and welfare benefit costs, educate members and improve benefit options.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：文图拉县文图拉市的航拍景色，文图拉统一学区位于该市。来源：Wikimedia Commons — Jimwmurphy, Public domain，维基共享资源。 / Photo: An aerial view of Ventura, home of Ventura Unified School District. Credit: Wikimedia Commons — Jimwmurphy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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