The United Administrators of San Francisco (UASF), AFSA Local 3, has won a 6% pay increase retroactive to July 1, 2022. Each UASF member will receive a lump-sum back paycheck to catch up with the regular payroll schedule.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, school administrators across the country have been forced by their districts to take on more and more responsibility. For many administrators, that increased responsibility has not resulted in an increase in compensation. However, in San Francisco, strong negotiation by the union reflects the additional work school leaders have taken on during the pandemic and beyond.
“We needed a tangible acknowledgement that our members are taking on more work under these unique circumstances,” said Caroline Satoda, UASF bargaining member and AFSA general vice president.
To punctuate this point, UASF successfully negotiated for members who provide emergency class instruction to be compensated at $70 per hour, “We were hit hard by the substitute teacher shortages, and many of our members had to step in and teach classes, adding to an already very busy and heavy workload. Winning compensation for this work was huge victory for our members,” Satoda said.
In response to the COVID-19 working conditions of the previous academic year, UASF members also will receive a stipend of $2,500 for the fall semester and $2,500 for the spring semester. Additionally, two personal holidays were successfully negotiated for members to used by June 30, 2024.
Before sitting down with management at the bargaining table, the UASF contract team committed to learning enhanced contract negotiation tactics. They attended strategy webinars, where they "Role-played negotiations with stakeholders and learned strategies, maneuvers and tactics to win on issues that members were concerned about."
That labor training prepared the team to give the district the strong message that “We have surveyed our members, we’ve come with data and it’s clear that compensation for additional responsibilities is our members' priority.”
Despite moments of defeat and discouragement at negotiations, the UASF team held strong. Throughout contract talks, Satoda took time to remember the “stress, anxiety and trauma” her members had experienced during COVID-19, which inspired her and the team to move forward.
