A tentative agreement on a 3rd addendum to the Health and Safety MOU has been reached between UESF and SFUSD. Read the full text here: https://www.scribd.com/document/552718337/Tentative-Agreement-Addendum-3-to-Health-and-Safety-MOU-1-13-2022. 

• 10 Covid Sick Days (Retroactive) is vital, though Gavin Newsom is already pushing this at the state level, and the language of the TA states: “In the event that supplemental paid COVID-19 sick leave is enacted under local, state, and/or federal policy and that, to the extent possible, any Supplemental Paid COVID Sick Leave used by employees shall be credited towards any additional allocation of sick leave provided by such policy.” 
• 5 days for vaccine/booster process (retained from April’s agreement); 
• One high quality mask per person (staff and students) per day is great—if the District actually follows through with it. 
• The testing plan as written is insufficient (and Color has been an immense problem), and there's nothing about rapid testing or contact tracing, but the everyday pickups for tests (as we read it) may mean an increased testing window for students and staff which would help a lot. We have DAILY close contact for students and staff and DAILY COVID positive cases at SFUSD school sites. 

We believe that the actions of rank-and-file educators on January 6th—and Educators across SF—in the SickOut, coupled with the persuasive, data-driven letter sent by the Student Advisory Council helped buoy UESF at the bargaining table, who did a good job of harnessing the momentum of their members, other school workers, students, and families. The specter of a Pause, or more still more sickouts, coupled with all the press scrutiny, may have compelled SFUSD to budge from their hardline position—not to mention the deluge of impassioned communication from families, students, and educators at the board meeting Wednesday. It truly takes the effort of the whole community to get what we need.

This is not so much a win as the bare minimum we need to get by. We as a public school community deserve so much more, including universal access to rapid testing, a #2WeekPause to replenish depleted sick leave, do baseline COVID testing, and stockpile PPE, and a more robust remote option for students and families who need it. This is the only way we can get back to safe and effective in-person learning for the entire school community.

Remember, not only is Omicron not "mild," it reinfects previously ill people more easily than Alpha and Delta combined! We need a #2WeekPause more than ever!

​​Rori Abernethy

Susie Kameny

Gregory McGarry

Please find below a form letter which can be sent to SFUSD to demand a PAYROLL slot which would protect all UESF members in the event of sickness or injury during the pandemic and beyond:

Creating an SFUSD Payroll Slot for The Standard Disability Insurance

Dear Deputy Director of HR Bijur and SFUSD Leaders,

We are demanding that SFUSD create a payroll slot so that teachers and staff can open enroll for the CTA endorsed The Standard Disability Insurance. A payroll slot will allow us to lead a campaign to sign up (via a paycheck deduction) our 6500 UESF members for Disability Insurance, without penalties or restrictions for pre-existing conditions.

In the State of California, teachers and staff don't qualify for State Disability Insurance, so we have to pay for insurance out of our own pocket. In addition, when teachers run out of sick leave, we have to pay for our substitutes out of our own paycheck as well. In many cases, this cuts a teacher’s monthly salary in half or more. Therefore, becoming sick or disabled could cause financial ruin for most of us. Disability Insurance is important during a time when staff are under financial strain, additional stress due to COVID-19, and pending site budget cuts.

The Standard Disability Insurance has recently lowered requirements for group enrollment during the time of COVID. We only need 2.5% of our total UESF membership instead of the usual 5% of our UESF total membership. We will only need ~250 UESF members to sign up to qualify for a pre-existing condition waiver. We already have 250+ people interested in a Disability Insurance payroll slot in SFUSD.

This is an urgent and important matter and we hope a payroll slot will be approved in a timely manner.

If you need further information to set up a payroll slot for SFUSD, please contact Sophie Impuelten, CTA Voluntary Benefits Consultant, The Standard (707) 322-8477.