Skills to Win: The Santa Barbara Teachers Association Contract Fight and Supermajority Organizing, 2023–2025

This article examines a recent contract fight organized by the Santa Barbara Teachers Association (SBTA). In 2023, 15 SBTA members attended an online training class called Skills to Win. Developed by legendary labor organizer and writer Jane McAlevey, in collaboration with the UC Berkeley Labor Center, Skills to Win has been utilized by workers and unions across the country. The primary purpose of the training is to build supermajority unions that can organize strategically and effectively to obtain improved living and working conditions for working-class people. In this article, I contend that while supermajorities are crucial, so too are moral shocks, economic threats, and elite blunders, as these factors also help explain successful outcomes. Based on interviews with SBTA members and newspaper articles, I narrate the union's contract fight, focusing on the union's gains, which were substantial and obtained without a strike. This article thus illustrates the effectiveness of Skills to Win along with other supportive factors, which may be useful to unions, workers, and educators.