You’ll Never Walk Alone

After three years without a salary raise—even as their college president gave himself an 83 percent pay hike—the Hartnell College Faculty Association had enough. At 5:30 one morning last October, they hit the bricks.

And they weren’t alone.

When Hartnell faculty marched on the picket line, they walked side-by-side with K–12 teachers from the Salinas Valley, as well as California Teachers Association colleagues from all over the state. From as far as San Diego, teachers collected cash for the strike fund. And other unions lent their support—even the air conditioning repairmen refused to cross their line!

“Your determination...is something all faculty members can understand and respect,” NEA President Reg Weaver wrote to the Hartnell College Faculty Association (HCFA). “Know that our hearts are with you in this struggle.”

Within days, Hartnell won an 11 percent raise and a cost-of-living raise next year, estimated at 4.2 percent. “There was a lot of solidarity out there, and I think it did make a difference,” said HCFA President Christine Svendsen. “A win for one is a win for all, and a loss for one is a tremendous loss for all.”