LAUSD strike to conclude Thursday; employees set to return to work Friday despite no agreement
Los Angeles Unified School District campuses remained closed Wednesday morning as a district-wide strike continued, with school employees and teachers walking picket lines.
Los Angeles Unified School District employees with Service Employees International Union Local 99 began walking picket lines Tuesday morning after ongoing negotiations with district administrators failed. Teachers with United Teachers Los Angeles joined the support staff strike in solidarity.
More than 1,000 LAUSD campuses were closed Tuesday and Wednesday, affecting about 400,000 students in the nation's second largest school district.
The strike is set to continue Thursday, ending with a " boisterous rally at Los Angeles State Historic Park where thousands of workers will issue their strong, unified call for LAUSD to bargain fairly," a statement from SEIU said late Wednesday.
Despite no agreement, the "school workers plan to return to schools Friday, March 24," the statement added.
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SEIU/UTLA declared their intention to strike on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, returning to classes Friday.
SEIU employees, including custodians, bus drivers, teachers aides and others, are seeking a 30-percent raise, more staffing and more hours for part-time workers. The union says many of its workers are paid poverty wages of about $25,000 per year.
The district has countered with a 23-percent raise and a 3-percent cash bonus and says it's open to further negotiations.
"From what I understand, the district is trying to give us the 23-percent and spread it out within a couple of years," said Henry Rivera, one of many SEIU members picketing on Wednesday. "It's not going to work."
With negotiations still at a standstill, LAUSD on Wednesday announced that Mayor Karen Bass has offered her assistance in helping the two sides reach a deal.
SEIU held a meeting at John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley Wednesday morning.
On Monday afternoon, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced that district schools would close due to the strike.
Tuesday at 4:30 a.m., more than 60,000 LAUSD workers and teachers began walking picket lines in the rain.
- LAUSD strike: Families head to makeshift daycares as strike continues
With no school in session, families of LAUSD students took advantage of the nearly 200 supervised locations provided by the district. They said that since the strike began Tuesday, more than 1,300 students have been dropped off and more than 125,000 meals distributed.
Carvalho tweeted a statement Monday afternoon: "Let's continue to negotiate for as long as it takes for our students. We must avoid lost instructional and social and emotional development time."
On Sunday, with less than 48 hours until the planned walkout, the California Public Employment Relations Board rejected LAUSD's legal challenge to attempt to halt the strike.
Thousands of the frustrated teachers and workers rallied outside the downtown L.A. headquarters of the Los Angeles Unified School District on Tuesday.
Rallies were held at all LAUSD Local District offices on Wednesday as they continue their fight for better wages and working conditions.
United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers union that declared its 30,000-plus members would honor an SEIU picket line, is pushing for a 20-percent raise for its workers.
The planned three-day walkout is the first major labor disruption for the district since UTLA teachers went on strike for six days in 2019. That dispute ended thanks in part to intervention by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti, who helped spur labor talks at City Hall and broker a deal between the district and union.
