LAUSD strike continues for second day on Wednesday

Los Angeles Unified School District campuses remained closed Wednesday morning as the district-wide strike continued and school workers and teachers went on picket lines.

Employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District of the International Service Staff Union Local 99 began picketing on Tuesday morning after ongoing negotiations with the district administration failed. United Teachers Los Angeles teachers joined the support staff strike in solidarity.

More than 1,000 LAUSD campuses were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, affecting about 400,000 students in the nation’s second largest school district.

SEIU/UTLA announced their intention to strike on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and return to classes on Friday.

SEIU employees, including caretakers, bus drivers, teacher aides, and others, are seeking a 30 percent raise, more staff, and more hours for part-time workers. The union says many of its workers receive wages of around $25,000 a year.

The county responded with a 23 percent pay rise and cash bonus and said it was open to further negotiations.

On Monday afternoon, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced that district schools would be closed due to the strike.

Tuesday, 4:30 am, over 60,000 LAUSD workers and teachers. began to walk pickets in the rain.

Carvalho tweeted a statement on Monday afternoon: “Let’s continue negotiations for as long as our students need. We must avoid wasting time on learning, social and emotional development.”

On Sunday, the planned strike was less than 48 hours away.The California Board of Public Affairs dismissed the LAUSD lawsuit to stop the strike.

Thousands of frustrated teachers and workers gathered outside the Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday.

United Teachers Los Angeles, a teachers’ union that has announced that its more than 30,000 members will abide by the SEIU picket line, is pushing for a 20 percent raise for its workers.

The planned three-day strike is the first major labor disruption in the county since UTLA teachers went on strike for six days in 2019. That dispute ended in part thanks to the intervention of then-Mayor Eric Garcetti, who helped spark labor negotiations at City Hall. and brokering a deal between the county and the union.