Thousands of LA school district workers to hold 3-day strike

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Tens of thousands of workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District will strike for three days next week to negotiate stalled contracts, and teachers will join them, potentially shutting down the nation’s second-largest school system, it was announced Wednesday.

The strike was scheduled to begin on Tuesday. The announcement was made at a meeting of the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 30,000 teachers’ aides, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and other support workers.

United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 35,000 teachers, counselors and other workers, advised its members to support the SEIU workers by refusing to cross the picket line.

Teachers went on strike for six days in 2019 over pay and contract issues but schools remained open.

During this time, schools will likely be closed and there will be no access to virtual learning, Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said in an email to parents on Monday.

“We will have no way of ensuring a safe and secure environment in which to teach,” Carvalho said.

The district has over 500,000 students. It serves all or part of Los Angeles and 25 other cities and unincorporated counties.

SEIU members have been working without a contract since June 2020, and the teachers’ contract expires in June 2022. Unions decided last week to stop accepting contract extensions

SEIU said district support workers earn an average of about $25,000 per year, and many live in poverty as LA County struggles with inflation and high housing costs. The union is asking for a 30% raise.

The district offered SEIU what it called a historic $15 wage increase, some of it retroactive, and a 9% retention bonus.

The district superintendent on Wednesday accused the union of refusing to negotiate and said he was prepared to meet “day and night” to prevent a strike.

“We call on them now to come to the table for staff and students,” Carvalho said in a statement.