Action Education: 'Sí, Se Puede' (Yes, We Can)

Summer 2007

	Dolores Huerta at Birchfield Park in Hayward, California, motivates strike supporters to yess "¡Sí, se puede!" Illustration: Christopher Osti

Hayward teachers gain concessions and a valuable ally

The Hayward (Calif.) Education Association ratified a new contract late on the evening of April 25, thus ending the association's 10-day strike. Hayward is located 30 miles outside of San Francisco, has 22,000 students and 1,300 teachers.

When the strike began on April 5, teachers, the lowest paid in the Bay Area, asked for a 16 percent raise over two years; the school district offered a one-time raise of 5.5 percent. The new contract guarantees a total of 11 percent in raises over two years, and a one-time, 1 percent bonus later this year.

The strikers found solidarity with educators and activists around the country. Yet the biggest boost may have been when Dolores Huerta spoke at a rally on the second day of the strike. Huerta is the co-founder and first vice president emeritus of the United Farm Workers.

T. R. Amsler, a high school journalism and English teacher, wrote about the experience in a strike journal sent to Rethinking Schools:

When Dolores Huerta rose to the stage, shouts of "¡Sí, se puede!" and "¡Do-lor-es!" rose from the crowd.

Huerta still looks strong at 77. When she stepped to the microphone, her black hair and eyes, and her bright red suit jacket were outlined by the bright blue sky behind her. She spoke of the United Farm Workers and the Delano grape strike. She spoke of the role of education in America. Huerta spoke about how people assume Teamsters or farm workers are tough, but they'd find out that teachers are the toughest of all. Then she spoke about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and the effects on children. She asked all of us — immigrants and the children and grandchildren of immigrants — to stand up for today's children torn from their families by arrests and deportation. We answered with a loud cheer of support. I hope we follow through on this pledge of solidarity.

"¡Sí, se puede! ¡Sí, se puede!" the crowd roared and Huerta raised her hands up to the sky.... She walked down the back steps of the rented flat bed truck. Below, dozens of well-wishers gathered around. Huerta, union organizer, agitator, mother, was surrounded like a rock star. Latino mothers with their daughters and sons moved close to have her sign their picket signs. Families posed with Huerta for photos. This continued for over an hour. In fact, Huerta was the last one at the park. A woman who could organize the Delano grape strike and boycott for nine years had endless patience for the dozens of Hayward residents who sought a piece of her strength and history.

I can't imagine what it meant to these working-class Latina mothers to have their daughters meet Huerta. . . . I do know what it meant to me, as a white teacher and descendent of Irish immigrants, to have Huerta come to a rally for my union's strike.

Hayward exists on the margins of the San Francisco Bay area. The strike, though affecting 22,000 students and their families, is buried deep in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle. But today, Dolores Huerta came to support us.

Education may not be a priority in America. We might have to fight for scraps in the richest country in the world. But Huerta, at the center of America's labor history, at the center of the struggle for the rights and dignity of the marginalized, has offered us teachers a central role in our lives.

We have to be reminded — or at least it is nice to be reminded — that we are the central actors in our own employment. We are the producers and we can play a critical role in our workplace and compensation. We don't have to simply accept whatever is left in the budget after the bosses allocate their raises.

Our actions today will reverberate for teachers across the state. We are another example of workers unwilling to be exploited and unwilling to be marginalized in decisions of the public's pocketbook. As my friend and colleague Yvonne Valdez said, "I won't teach my students another lesson on how to be beat down."

Videos of the strike can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjRF74OCmLY.

Summer 2007