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Season 6, Episode 23

CTA President Calls for Urgent Action on Funding and Retention

CTA Gray

 

Guest Name:


David Goldberg

Guest Website:


California Teachers Association 

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

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Supportive Documents:


David Goldberg, President of the California Teachers Association (CTA), joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the concerns teachers in California's education system face and the union's efforts to address them.

With 300,000 members across 1,000 locals, the CTA advocates for better funding, improved working conditions and fair compensation for California educators.

Goldberg brings a rich history of union activism to his role, having grown up in a family of educators deeply involved in labor struggles. His grandmother participated in the 1970 strike that helped establish collective bargaining rights for teachers in California, while his mother was a strike captain in 1989. According to Goldberg, this journey has strengthened his understanding of the connection between educator struggles and student welfare.

On Feb. 4, 32 Locals will be launching the "We Can't Wait" campaign, representing 77,000 educators who are responsible for 1.2 million students. This initiative aims to build collective power across local unions to address statewide issues, marking a shift from traditional union structures.

One issue impacting educators in California is the high housing costs in the state. According to Goldberg, 84 percent of teachers are unable to live near their workplace due to high costs. This, among several other issues, has led to a significant exodus from the profession, with 40 percent of CTA members considering leaving due to financial strain, he added. For labor to make a difference, Goldberg believes it would take a multi-pronged approach. His plan includes re-focusing on organizing, connecting local struggles to statewide campaigns and establishing a partnership with parents and communities.

The CTA is also working to address the immediate needs of educators affected by recent wildfires, providing support through their website at cta.org/lawildfires

Listen to the show above to hear more from Goldberg and the CTA.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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