Educators in California’s Bay Area ended their three-week strike on June 9, enabling them to be back in their classrooms for the final week of school. The strike, the New Haven Unified School District’s first, saw nearly 600 teachers, school counselors, psychologists, speech therapists and nurses join picket lines outside their schools in a fight over pay.

The new two-year agreement gives the educators, represented by the New Haven Teachers Association, a salary hike of roughly 1.5 percent this year and 3 percent next year. Teachers will also get a one-time bonus of 2.5 percent this school year. If the district receives more state funding than projected in the coming school year, another 1 percent pay increase is possible.

The final union vote was 302 in favor of the agreement and 200 against. The two sides spent nearly 200 hours at the bargaining table during the strike.

“Our unity with each other on the picket lines was an incredible display of power that resulted in some real gains for our union,” said New Haven Teachers Association President Joe Ku’e Angeles.

East Bay Times, June 7