Over 1,000 Schools Close as LA's Non-Teaching School Workers Go On Strike

What's the story?

• School support workers in Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest school district, canceled classes this week as tens of thousands of employees go on a three-day strike for higher pay.
• The dispute involves Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union, representing people who work in non-teaching roles, such as bus drivers, custodians, landscapers, cafeteria workers, and assistants.
• Over 1,000 schools are closed, impacting a population of 422,000 students. The union represents 30,000 workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
• The teachers’ union, which is also in contract discussions with the district, has stood in solidarity with and honored the striking worker's picket line. They have not yet called a strike of their own.

How did the strike begin?

• Members voted to authorize a strike in Feb. of this year. Contract negotiations between Local 99 and Los Angeles Unified began in April 2022, but the talks have been at an impasse for the past few months.
• The strike began in the predawn hours in San Fernando Valley, and the union representing the teachers asked its members to stand in solidarity with the striking workers by staging their own walkout.
• The Los Angeles Unified school district said they were working to avoid a strike because it would affect over 1,000 schools, but they urged parents to make separate childcare arrangements.
• Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of the district, tweeted:

“We must formally announce that all schools across LAUSD will be closed to students tomorrow.”

What do the strikers want?

• The striking workers want a 30% increase and a $2/hour increase for the lowest-paid workers, as many employees make little over minimum wage.
• The average salary of workers in the union is $25,000 per year. The call for a wage increase comes at a time of rising living costs in southern California, unaffordable regional housing prices, and a national inflation crisis.
• Local 99 said their limited strike was not called solely for pay increases but was launched to call attention to unfair negotiating tactics on behalf of the school district.
• Democratic Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom have not gotten directly involved in the negotiations between the union and the school district. Unlike in many other big cities, the mayor does not control the school district in Los Angeles, which is run by an independently elected board.

Strikes becoming more common 

• Strikes have become common in California's cities, with major strikes in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland, and the University of California in recent years.
• Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Labor Center, said strikes are becoming more common because of stagnant wages and poor working conditions. He continued:

“There’s tremendous discontent among working people that this isn’t working for them. The rise in worker organizing and the rise in worker strikes is absolutely a sign of the times.”

• A Gallup poll shows that support for organized labor is at a 50-year high in the U.S. after years of being demonized.

Do you support California's school support worker's strike?

—Emma Kansiz