LA school strike – news: 420,000 students sent home as teachers back workers in three-day protest

Schools across Los Angeles will be closed on Tuesday as support workers stage a three-day strike, effectively shuttering America’s second-largest school district.

Around 30,000 Los Angeles school support workers including custodians, cafeteria workers and bus drivers are staging a walkout Tuesday through Thursday in protest over wages and working conditions.

The Service Employees International Union Local 99 union has been in negotiations with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for almost a year as workers seek a 30 percent pay rise and increased work hours for part-time staff.

The latest round of negotiations broke down on Monday, paving the way for the workers’ strike.

Teachers will put on a united front with their colleagues with the United Teachers Los Angeles – a union representing about 30,000 teachers – announcing that members will participate in a solidarity strike and honour the picket line.

All LAUSD school campuses will be closed from Tuesday through Thursday as a result, impacting more than 500,000 students.

Key points

• 30,000 support workers go on strike

• Teachers’ union joins workers in solidarity strike

• What are school staff asking for?

• LA Zoo offers free visit to students impacted by strikes

• LAUSD Superintendent blasts workers’ union for refusing to negotiate

Adam Schiff joins striking workers on picket lines

17:04 , Graeme Massie

The US congressman for Burbank, who is running for the US Senate in 2024, joined the picket lines at Kennedy Community School where he called the median income of $25,000 for striking workers “poverty wages.”

“People with some of the most important responsibilities in our schools should not have to live in poverty,” Mr Schiff said. “They deserve to work in dignity and live in dignity.”

Teachers union says it wont accept ‘disrespect’ from school district

16:42 , Graeme Massie

“We are education workers. We are teachers, counselors, bus drivers, teaching aides, custodians and more. We are parents and community members. We are LA Public Schools. We are on strike because we won’t let the district treat any of us with disrespect. It stops here,” the UTLA union tweeted.

Bus drivers out on strike line in pouring rain

16:16 , Graeme Massie

Strike has wide support among union members

15:55 , Oliver O'Connell

SEIU members have been working without a contract since June 2020, while the contract for teachers expired in June 2022. The unions decided last week to stop accepting extensions to their contracts.

United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 35,000 educators, counselors, nurses and other staff, expressed solidarity with their striking co-workers.

“Educators will be joining our union siblings on the picket lines,” a UTLA tweet said. The teachers’ union is also bargaining with the district.

Teachers waged a six-day strike in 2019 over pay and contract issues but schools remained open.

AP

What wage increase is the union pushing for?

15:38 , Oliver O'Connell

The union says district support staffers earn, on average, about $25,000 per year and many live in poverty because of low pay or limited work hours while struggling with inflation and the high cost of housing in LA County. The union is asking for a 30% raise. Teachers want a 20% pay hike over two years.

Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said the district has offered a wage increase totaling more than 20% over a multiyear period, along with a 3% bonus. In addition, the deal would include a “massive expansion of healthcare benefits,” the superintendent told Fox 11 on Monday.

AP

Strike is only option left, workers say

15:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Instructional aide Marlee Ostrow, who supports the strike, said she’s long overdue for a raise. The 67-year-old was hired nearly two decades ago at $11.75 an hour, and today she makes about $16. That isn’t enough to keep pace with inflation and rising housing prices, she said, and meanwhile, her duties have expanded from two classrooms to five.

Ostrow blames the district’s low wages for job vacancies that have piled up in recent years.

“There’s not even anybody applying because you can make more money starting at Burger King,” she said. “A lot of people really want to help kids, and they shouldn’t be penalised for wanting that to be their life’s work.”

AP

What contingencies are being put in place for childcare?

15:00 , Oliver O'Connell

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, plus some “grab and go” spots for students to get lunches also planned to be open to kids to lessen the strain on parents now scrambling to find care.

“Schools are so much more than centers of education — they are a safety net for hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles families,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Monday. “We will make sure to do all we can to provide resources needed by the families of our city.”

What happened to negotiations?

14:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho accused the union of refusing to negotiate and said that he was prepared to meet at any time day or night. He said Monday a “golden opportunity” to make progress was lost.

“I believe this strike could have been avoided. But it cannot be avoided without individuals actually speaking to one another,” he said.

Local 99 said Monday evening that it was in discussions with state labor regulators over allegations that the district engaged in misconduct that has impeded the rights of workers to engage in legally protected union-related activities.

“We want to be clear that we are not in negotiations with LAUSD,” the union said in a statement. “We continue to be engaged in the impasse process with the state.”

Those talks would not avoid a walkout, the statement said.

AP

Despite understaffed, dirty schools, teachers still want to make a difference

14:10 , Oliver O'Connell

“The working conditions have gone down every year,” Danielle Murray, a special education assistant who was picketing, told KABC-TV. “We’re very understaffed. The custodial staff is a ghost crew, so the schools are dirty. They’re doing the best they can.”

She added, “Some people are saying, ‘If you want more money, get a better job.’ Well, some of us have bachelor’s degrees, but we choose to work with a special population that some people don’t want to work with. We want to make a difference to these students.”

AP

14:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Demonstrations at bus yard expected to spread

13:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Demonstrations began at a bus yard and are expected at schools across the city by members of Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 30,000 teachers’ aides, special education assistants, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and other support staff.

The workers joined picket lines in a steady rain before dawn, demanding better wages and increased staffing. Some held signs that read “We keep schools safe, Respect Us!” The district has more than 500,000 students from Los Angeles and all or part of 25 other cities and unincorporated county areas.

AP

Recap: Second largest school system shut down for three days

13:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Tens of thousands of workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are walking off the job today over stalled contract talks, and they are being joined in solidarity by teachers in a three-day strike that has shut down the nation’s second-largest school system.

LAUSD Superintendent blames workers’ union for stalemate in negotiations

12:50 , Rachel Sharp

LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has accused the union of refusing to negotiate, leading to a stalemate over worker demands.

“Under California law, we cannot drive the school system into a bankruptcy position. We cannot drive the school system into a red position. And if we were to acquiesce to all the demands, that is exactly where we would be, that is not legally allowable,” he told CNN.

“We are eagerly awaiting on a counter proposal and we are ready to put another compelling offer on the table to continue the dialogue.

“We believe that a strike is avoidable and should be avoided, considering the consequences that would have in our community.”

He said that students will suffer because of the strikes.

“We should not be depriving our students of an opportunity to learn,” he said.

LA Zoo offers free visit to students impacted by strikes

12:20 , Rachel Sharp

LA Zoo is offering free visits to students impacted by the strikes.

The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens announced that currently enrolled K-12 student would be given free admission if their school is closed due to the industrial action.

Chaperones accompanying the students will pay $5.

WATCH: Three-day strike begins today

11:50 , Rachel Sharp

What are school staff asking for?

11:45 , Rachel Sharp

The Service Employees International Union Local 99 union represents around 30,000 Los Angeles school support workers including custodians, cafeteria workers and bus drivers.

The union has been in negotiations with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for almost a year.

Members of the union are demading:

- A 30 percent pay raise, as well as an additional $2 per hour over the next four years

- Increased work hours for part-time staff

Teachers’ union joins workers in solidarity strike

11:43 , Rachel Sharp

Teachers are putting on a united front with their support staff colleagues with the United Teachers Los Angeles – a union representing about 30,000 teachers – announcing that members will participate in a solidarity strike and honour the picket line.

“School workers have made it clear that we will not put up with the district’s disrespect and abuse anymore. We are proud to be going on a solidarity strike with @SEIULocal99 tomorrow through Thursday. We will be out on the streets every day,” the teachers’ union tweeted.

LA schools shutter as 30,000 workers go on strike

11:40 , Rachel Sharp

Schools across Los Angeles will be closed on Tuesday as support workers stage a three-day strike, effectively shuttering America’s second-largest school district.

Around 30,000 Los Angeles school support workers including custodians, cafeteria workers and bus drivers are staging a walkout Tuesday through Thursday in protest over wages and working conditions.

The Service Employees International Union Local 99 union has been in negotiations with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for almost a year as workers seek a 30 percent pay rise and increased work hours for part-time staff.

The latest round of negotiations broke down on Monday, paving the way for the workers’ strike.

All LAUSD school campuses will be closed from Tuesday through Thursday as a result, impacting more than 400,000 students.

11:36 , Rachel Sharp

Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog on the LA school strikes. Follow along for updates.