UESF MEMBERS CALL FOR STRIKE VOTE

On the eve of a three day weekend, UESF members filled the auditorium at
Lincoln High School to hear reports on the status of negotiations on
their contracts and a request for support from leaders of SEIU #790 in
their impending strike against the San Francisco Unified School
District.

UESF Secretary, Susan Solomon, and Vice Presidents Bradley Reeves and
Sandra Mack, explained the process and progress of bargaining for the
UESF contracts. Tim Paulson, Executive Director of the San Francisco
Labor Council, spoke about the support for the schools unions among the
100,000 union family members in San Francisco. SEIU leaders Karen
Bishop, Mary Saunders, and Local 790 Executive Director, Josie Mooney,
told the UESF members about the breakdown of their negotiations and
their plans for a strike.

The meeting was necessitated by the UESF Constitution which requires two
meetings prior to any strike vote. The first meeting must be a
discussion of potential strike issues and a vote at that time must be
taken to call for an actual strike vote meeting.

The ballot cast by the UESF members asked the following question:

Shall the leadership of the United Educators of San Francisco be
authorized to call a general membership meeting for the purpose of
conducting a strike vote?

The votes were 1167 Yes and 173 No. An additional 34 provisional ballots
were cast for a total of 1374. The yes votes exceeded the Constitutional
requirement of two-thirds.