ABC30 ARCHIVES: FTA voted to strike 40 years ago
Tuesday night marked the first time in nearly four decades the teachers union has moved to strike and the vote was overwhelming yes-- the last time was 1977.
We retrieved some of our old Action News film footage from 1978 that shows administrators huddled around a conference table, and contained interviews with administrators, and one student who discussed why it was important for students to continue attending schools even though they were filled with substitute teachers.
A report from the Stanford Daily described a day in 1978 in the following manner:
"Fresno teachers picket in rain Fresno -Teachers picketed in a steady rain yesterday as negotiators tried to settle the first strike in Fresno Unified School District's history. There was no immediate indication whether the latest bargaining had produced any progress toward a new contract. District and teacher association negotiators had not met since Sunday because both sides were busy coping with the first day of the strike Monday. Schools remained open in the state's fifth-largest school district, with classrooms staffed by teachers who didn't strike and substitutes for those who did. Spokesmen for both sides jokingly told a reporter they had ordered up the storm which forced pickets to wear rain gear as they marched in front of the district's 77 schools."
