Teachers Rally in Front of School District Office in Show of Union Solidarity

Novato teachers and school district employees were joined by other union supporters Monday afternoon for a street-corner show of support outside the office.

About 75 people gathered at the corner of Seventh and Grant avenues “in a show of unity,” said Leslie Lipman, president of the Novato Federation of Teachers. Signs held by the peaceful demonstrators included references to the union-busting actions taken in recent weeks in Wisconsin and Ohio as well as quotes from Abraham Lincoln and Woody Guthrie.

April 4 was designed by the American Federation of Teachers as a “day of action” nationwide. Literature passed out by the Novato demonstrators, titled “We Are One,” called the recent actions in the Wisconsin state capitol as one of the “unprecedented, coordinated attacks” that are “orchestrated attempts by politicians to pay back corporate and CEO campaign funders.”

The national “We Are One” calling was set on the 43rd anniversary of the day Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. He was there to support more than 1,000 striking sanitation workers who were seeking better treatment and collective bargaining.

An e-mail circulated to teachers before Monday’s demonstration asked that they wear T-shirts supplied by the Novato Teachers Federation “and join us as we stand together to fight this oppression.” Lipman said the "informational picket" had nothing to do with the fact that local teachers are working without an updated contract.

Novato’s school district office was closed at 2:30 p.m. in the event that workers there wanted to participate in the demonstration, said district public information officer Leslie Benjamin. She said employees who didn’t join the gathering would either work from home or make up the lost hours at another time.