RICHMOND — Picket lines formed in front of schools Thursday morning, manned by thousands of West Contra Costa Unified School District educators, facility staff, students and family members demanding better pay, benefits and working conditions.

United Teachers of Richmond and Teamsters Local 856, two district unions representing nearly 3,000 employees from educators and psychologists to cafeteria workers and security, began their joint strikes after about 10 months of negotiations.

The members staff a district of about 28,000 students spread out across dozens of schools in El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules and El Sobrante.

Speaking from the picket line outside El Cerrito High School on Thursday morning and again to a large crowd of strikers gathered outside the district a

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