Lessons from the San Francisco strike: How the unions, Democratic Party and pseudo-left betrayed the teachers

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The recent four-day strike by 6,400 educators in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) exposed the role of the union bureaucracy, the Democratic Party, and pseudo-left groups in betraying the struggle to defend public education. After just four days, the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), working with American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, shut down the strike on the district's terms and demobilized educators, despite the strike's potential to galvanize a broader movement of workers and students. The agreement signed by UESF and the California Teachers Association (CTA) offered only a 4% raise over two years—a real wage cut—while maintaining the state-imposed framework of austerity and school closures. Within days, preliminary layoff notices were issued, targeting art, music, and counseling positions, with more cuts to come. The pseudo-left groups celebrated this as a 'historic victory,' obscuring the union's role in enforcing austerity. The San Francisco strike shows that the struggle to defend public education is a political fight against the entire framework of capitalist austerity, imposed by the Democrats no less than the Republicans. Educators must build rank-and-file committees independent of the union bureaucracy and both corporate parties to advance non-negotiable demands and fight for workers to take political power.

Why it matters

The San Francisco strike tapped into years of opposition by teachers to draconian rounds of budget cuts and threatened school closures in one of the richest regions on the planet. The walkout coincided with a strike by 31,000 Kaiser healthcare workers throughout California and Hawaii, expressing a broad and growing wave of working class opposition. However, the union bureaucracy, working with the Democratic Party, shut down the strike and enforced austerity measures, including layoffs and school closures. This betrayal highlights the urgent need for educators to build independent rank-and-file organizations to fight for the defense of public education.

The details

The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) has set a strike deadline of April 14, which would mobilize 35,000 teachers, as well as 30,000 support staff in the Service Employees International (SEIU) who are also working without a contract. This has enormous potential to galvanize hundreds of thousands of educators and transform the fight in defense of public education, nationally and internationally. However, the San Francisco experience shows that the union bureaucracy, integrated into the Democratic Party and the state, operates not as an instrument of workers' struggle but as the mechanism through which austerity is enforced. The agreement signed by UESF and CTA was a calculated betrayal, offering only a 4% raise over two years—a real wage cut—while maintaining the entire state-imposed framework of austerity and school closures. Within days, preliminary layoff notices were issued by the district, targeting 42 positions, including art and music teachers, counselors and 32 instructional aides, with more cuts to come.

• The four-day strike of San Francisco educators took place just over a month ago.
• The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) has set a strike deadline of April 14, 2026.

What they’re saying

What’s next

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