05 Dec Teachers Launch First Strike in WCCUSD History, Citing Low Pay and Overcrowded Classrooms

West Contra Costa Unified School District teachers and staff are on strike. Their demands include better pay and smaller class sizes.

Story and photos by Denis Perez-Bravo  

Teachers began gathering before 7 a.m. Thursday for their first day on the picket lines as educators and staff are striking to demand the West Contra Costa Unified School District raises wages and offer better working conditions. 

About 1,500 teachers and credentialed staff represented by United Teachers of Richmond, along with 1,500 employees under the Teamsters 856 union, are engaged in the first strike in WCCUSD history.

“We’ve had enough,” Joy Diaz-Noriega, a fourth grade dual-language immersion teacher at Downer Elementary in San Pablo, said. “We have to keep organizing and demand what we deserve.”

Diaz-Noriega said frustrations among teachers had been building for many years.

“I think it took longer than needed to,” she said. “It should have been a long time ago.” 

For years, overcrowded classrooms coupled with low wages have left many vacancies unfilled. 

In 2025, WCCUSD started the year with 70 vacant positions that affected 2,000 students, according to United Teachers of Richmond.

In the 2023–24 school year, WCCUSD ranked 18th out of 19 Contra Costa County districts in total employee compensation.

“My parents are on the teachers’ side,” Richmond High senior Josselinne Gio said. “They don’t think it’s fair that substitutes get paid more than the [regular] teachers, when the teacher has to deal with students all day and support them.”

Gio said her freshman year at Richmond High was marked by oversized classes of 35 to 40 students, something she had never experienced before.

She recalled raising her hand and the teacher not noticing her because their attention was so divided.

“I feel like a class should be like 20 students at a time because a teacher can’t be everywhere at once,” Gio said. 

In many district schools, many students like Gio showed up at picket lines to show solidarity with their teachers.

“I’m supporting my teachers because I feel like they go above and beyond for students,” Richmond High School senior Mars Correa said. “They are doing a job that they like, and I feel like that’s why they’re accepting the low pay.”

But even without being paid what they deserve, Correa said teachers support students mentally, which can be draining. 

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Educators like Bri Bartlik, a Richmond High English teacher, are optimistic the strike will end with their demands met. 

Those demands include a 10% wage increase over two years, smaller class sizes, employer-provided healthcare, and protections for international educators.

The district’s proposal includes a 2% wage increase and 85% employer-provided health care. 

“I took a pay cut to come out here, and while it was worth it because I love the community, I can just see we have a high turnover because if we get paid pennies on the dollar in comparison, why would we stay in a district that’s paying us less than our worth?” Bartlik said. 

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Instead of looking for another district, she said she hopes to make this one better. 

“It just makes me really happy because we are showing that our future generations are what really makes us,” Bartlik, a UTR representative, said. “So I’m excited to see that we are providing a good educational experience for our students.” 

Part of that positive experience, strikers say, is consistent staffing. 

UTR strike captain Jacob Winkleman organized teachers and staff outside DeJean Middle School, where he teaches English and English language development. 

“We still have situations with teachers who are uncredentialed or long-term subs, and it does a massive disservice to kids,” Winkleman said. “And we see them falling behind in math and in reading.” 

He said permanent teachers support students year-round, and that is where funding should go — not to expensive, uncredentialed teachers and substitutes.

This instability among long-term teachers is pushing families toward charter schools and away from WCCUSD, he said. 

At Pinole Valley High School, social science teacher Niko Villars often asks his students to raise their hand if they have had a year without a full-time teacher and instead had rotating substitutes. 

“Almost every hand in my classroom goes up,” Villars said.

Villars acted as strike captain, organizing participants and ensuring their signs and numbers made their message clear.

“No dinero, no trabajo,” the crowd shouted: Spanish for “no money, no work.” 

Picket line schedules for the first day included protests outside schools across the district 45 minutes before the opening bell.

A community rally was held at Memorial Park near the district office at 11 a.m., and picket lines resumed at 1:30 p.m. 

Day 2 had the same schedule, except the 11 a.m. rally was set for Marina Bay Park on Friday.

“We are strong; we are ready to fight,” Villars said. “Teachers are ready to go, and this is going to last until we get a fair deal.”