School district workers want full-time employment, respect, and increased staffing levels

The Los Angeles Unified School District will not relearn a third of its students under the scrutiny after a three-day strike on Tuesday

A union representing 30,000 Los Angeles school custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and other support staff will start a three-day strike Tuesday – effectively stopping classes for more than a half million students.

Members of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) The Los Angeles Unified School District failed to produce a contract resolution and will lead to a walk off by Local 99.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced schools would be canceled for students starting Tuesday after last-minute negotiations, which included new raise offers, failed.

The union wants “equitable wage increases, more full-time work, respectful treatment, and increased staffing levels for improved student services,” it said.

The United Teachers Los Angeles is the union that represents about 30,000 teachers in the second-largest school district.

California law precludes us from pushing the school system into a bankruptcy position. The school system can’t be driven into a red position. It is not possible for us to acquiesce to all the demands.

“We are eagerly awaiting on a counter proposal and we are ready to put another compelling offer on the table to continue the dialogue,” Carvalho said. The consequences that a strike would have on our community are something that we don’t want to see.

“If the district doesn’t realize that our members are valuable… once they stop working, then nothing’s really gonna change,” said Max Arias, executive director of SEIU Local 99.

“We need to reach a resolution that honors the work of our dedicated employees, while respecting the rights our children have to a quality education, meals and access to enriching school activities,” Carvalho said.

On Monday while announcing schools would shutter, Carvalho said the district would offer help to families, including opening 24 grab-and-go food sites, 154 schools that will provide student supervision and about 120 city-run sites at libraries, recreation centers and other locations.

The Los Angeles Zoo is also offering free admission for students due to the closures and its all-day zoo camp program for students in kindergarten through 5th grade added two free “extended care” hours per day.

Negotiating the SEIU Teachers’ Wage and Health Benefits Agreement in Los Angeles, a Seattle, Public Schools District with the Los Angeles Unified School District

But the union’s leader said he understands the challenges families endure when schools shut down for strikes. Many of the workers are parents.

Families have been sacrificing for a long time on poverty wages. Students have been sacrificing for too long in school environments that are not clean, safe or supportive for all,” Arias said.

The move comes after more than a year of negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and its superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, over pay and health benefits.

“We understand the plight, the frustration and the realities faced by our workforce members,” Carvalho said last night. “We’re willing to work with them, but the way we find a solution is by having a partner at the table to actually negotiate possible results.”

The SEIU is a union for service employees. Representing traditional service employees such as custodians and cafeteria workers are Local 99. Despite the critical roles these workers play in the operation of a school, the union says the average salary of its members in the district is $25,000 per year, with many of these employees working part time.

The LAUSD has 420,000 students and is the 2nd largest school district in the country with the majority from families who can’t afford to send their kids to school.

The district is working with the city and local volunteers to provide all students with breakfast and lunch, as well as to assist families who cannot provide child care during the planned three day school strike.

Among the teachers’ demands is a similar wage increase and a cap on class sizes. The district is not giving much due to concerns over its finances.

Carvalho, the former Miami-Dade superintendent who came to Los Angeles 13 months ago, says the district, with its $14.8 billion operating budget – is existing in a financial bubble right now. It is hard to keep teachers’ positions filled and the padding of COVID relief will be rolled back in a few years.

The district’s financial security is something he is trying to protect. Many of them struggle to make ends meet despite their working jobs, and union leaders say they’re protecting them.