{"id":8009,"date":"2023-03-19T08:37:18","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T13:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=8009"},"modified":"2023-03-19T08:37:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T13:37:22","slug":"los-angeles-schools-brace-for-possible-shutdown-after-union-announces-3-day-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=8009","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles schools brace for possible shutdown after union announces 3-day strike<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A shutdown of schools in Los Angeles, the nation\u2019s second-largest education system, could be imminent after a union representing workers announced a three-day strike planned for next week.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After almost a year of negotiations, members of SEIU Local 99, otherwise known as Education Workers United, voted to approve a strike that will be held from Tuesday, March 21 through Thursday, March 23. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strike will be held with support from the district\u2019s teacher\u2019s union, United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents 35,000 local educators. They said they will honor the strike and will not cross picket lines imposed by workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of members, from cafeteria workers to bus drivers working in\u2002the\u2002Los Angeles Unified School District\u2002(LAUSD)<\/a> are demanding equitable wage increases, more full-time work, respectful treatment and increased staffing levels for better student services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say the school district has engaged in \u201cunfair practices\u201d and that there\u2019s been little progress since negotiations began in April 2022. In December, SEIU Local 99 announced talks had reached an impasse and a state mediator was appointed to oversee communications between the two parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strike was authorized by 96% of LAUSD school workers represented by SEIU Local 99 in February. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThroughout the strike vote and during the bargaining process, workers have been subjected to surveillance, intimidation, and harassment by the school district,\u201d SEIU Local 99 said in a press release. \u201cDozens of unfair labor practice charges have been filed with the California Public Employee Relations board to protest LAUSD\u2019s unlawful interference in workers\u2019 right to vote and participate in union activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janette Verbera, a special education assistant and single mother, said she is ready to strike for the \u201crespect we deserve\u201d and noted she works two to three jobs to support her family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m exhausted and not just because I\u2019m physically tired, it is debilitating to do a job day-in-and-day-out that I passionately love and be at a salary below the poverty wage level. How do we properly service our students when we are being overworked and underpaid and disrespected?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias said workers have been living off \u201cpoverty wages\u201d<\/a> and blamed the school district for pushing workers to act. The average salary of workers at LAUSD is $25,000 a year, often working part-time hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents have been sacrificing for too long in school environments that are not clean, safe or supportive for all. Too many workers have been subjected to harassment simply for demanding change. Enough is Enough!,\u201d Arias said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to their website, SEIU Local 99 is a union of 50,000 education workers in K-12 schools, early education centers and homes, and community colleges throughout Southern California, including 30,000 cafeteria workers, special education assistants, custodians, bus drivers and others providing essential student services at LAUSD schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a Wednesday news conference, district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho<\/a> said that the strike will make it \u201cvirtually impossible to keep schools open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also claimed the union is \u201csimply refusing to negotiate\u201d despite a \u201chistoric offer on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

nypost<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A shutdown of schools in Los Angeles, the nation\u2019s second-largest education system, could be imminent after a union representing workers announced a three-day strike planned for next week.   After almost a year of negotiations, members of SEIU Local 99, otherwise known as Education Workers United, voted to approve a strike that will be held from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1154],"tags":[3824,3823,1494,3258,3822,3825,3821,3165,1139],"class_list":["post-8009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-lausdschools","tag-cafeterias","tag-drivers","tag-negotiations","tag-raises","tag-union-of-educators","tag-union-strike","tag-voting","tag-workers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8011,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8009\/revisions\/8011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}