Los Angeles schools to close as district workers plan strike
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Tens of thousands of workers at the Los Angeles Unified School District planned to leave their jobs Tuesday due to deadlocked contract negotiations, and they will be joined in solidarity by teachers in a three-day strike that will end the il second largest school system in the nation.
Demonstrations are expected at schools across the city by Local 99 members of the Service Employees International Union, which represents approximately 30,000 teacher aides, special education aides, bus drivers, janitors, cafeteria workers and other school staff. support.
Workers were expected to picket lines before dawn, demanding better wages and more staff. The district has more than 500,000 students from Los Angeles and all or parts of 25 other cities and unincorporated county areas.
Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho accused the union of refusing to negotiate and said he was willing to meet at any time of day or night. He said a “golden opportunity” to make progress was missed on Monday.
“I think this strike could have been avoided. But it can’t be avoided without people actually talking to each other,” she said.
Local 99 said Monday evening it was in discussions with state labor regulators over allegations that the district engaged in misconduct that prevented workers from engaging in union-related activities protected by the law.
“We want to be clear that we are not in talks with LAUSD,” the union said in a statement. “We continue to be engaged in the impasse process with the state.”
Those talks would not prevent a strike, the statement said.
“We are ready to strike,” the union said.
During the strike, about 150 of the district’s more than 1,000 schools are expected to remain open with adult supervision but no instruction, to give students somewhere to go. Dozens of libraries and parks, as well as a few grab-and-go spots where students can get lunch, also planned to be open to children to reduce the strain on parents who are now scrambling to find care.
“Schools are more than just educational hubs—they’re a safety net for hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles families,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on Monday. “We will make sure we do everything we can to provide much-needed resources to families in our city.”
The workers, meanwhile, said a strike was the only option they had left.
Teaching assistant Marlee Ostrow, who supports the strike, said she was long overdue for a raise. The 67-year-old was hired nearly 20 years ago at $11.75 an hour, and today she makes about $16. That’s not enough to keep up with inflation and rising home prices, she said, and in the meantime her homework has dropped from two to five grades.
Ostrow blames the district’s low wages for the job vacancies that have piled up in recent years.
“There’s no one even applying because you can make more money starting at Burger King,” he said. “Many people really want to help children and shouldn’t be penalized for wanting it to be their life’s work.”
The union says district support staff earn, on average, about $25,000 a year and many live in poverty due to low pay or limited working hours as they struggle with inflation and high housing costs in Los Angeles County. The union is asking for a 30% raise. Teachers want a 20% pay rise in two years.
Carvalho said the district has offered a pay raise totaling more than 20% over a multi-year period, along with a 3% bonus. In addition, the deal would include a “massive expansion of health benefits,” the superintendent told Fox 11 on Monday.
The strike has widespread support among union members. Thousands of people, many dressed in red, gathered in front of the town hall on Wednesday in the hours before the strike date was announced.
SEIU members have been working without contracts since June 2020, while the teachers’ contract expired in June 2022. The unions decided last week not to accept any more extensions to their contracts.
United Teachers Los Angeles, the union that represents 35,000 educators, counselors, nurses and other staff, expressed solidarity with their striking colleagues.
“Educators will join our union brothers in the pickets,” said a UTLA tweet. The teachers union is also negotiating with the district.
Teachers went on a six-day strike in 2019 over wage and contract issues, but schools remained open.
___
Associated Press reporter Collin Binkley contributed from Washington DC
