LAUSD Prepares for School Closures as Negotations Stall
Schools across the Los Angeles Unified School District could close next week due to a labor strike.
Service Employees International Union Local 99 — which represents bus drivers, aides, cafeteria workers and custodians — announced a walk-out on March 21 through March 24.
Teachers, who are represented by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), will stand in solidarity with the workers and refuse to cross the picket line.
SEIU officials have asked for a 30% increase in wages. They cite rising costs and a $4.9 billion reserve fund for 2022-23.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has offered a 5% wage increase retroactive to July 2021, a 5% increase retroactive to July 2022, a 5% increase effective July 2023, a 4% bonus in 2022-23, and a 5% bonus in 2023-24.
LAUSD officials called it “one of the strongest offers ever proposed by a Los Angeles Unified superintendent.''
A new round of negotiations will begin Friday in an attempt to avert the strike.
