California: Los Angeles Teachers and School Workers Strike for Better Pay Shuts Down Schools

By BERT HOOVER Mar 21 2023, 23:34 PM EDT

California's Los Angeles Unified School District is the second-largest school district in the United States. On Tuesday, thousands of service employees backed by Los Angeles teachers began a three-day protest in the district, effectively canceling classes for half a million students.

Almost 30,000 support staff members of the Service Employees International Union, represented by Local 99, walked off the job due to a breakdown in contract negotiations, AP reports.

Teachers joined picket lines in the rain early on Tuesday as workers demanded better pay and more staff before heading to a big rally outside the district's headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

Signs reading, "We keep schools safe, Respect Us," were held by a few.

Around 500,000 students from Los Angeles, 25 other cities, and unincorporated counties comprise the district.

It is estimated that Latinos make up roughly 75% of the population.

The district support staffers earn an average of $25,000 a year, and many live in poverty due to low pay or limited work hours, as well as struggling with inflation and the high cost of rent in Los Angeles County, according to the union.

The union has also requested a pay increase of 30%, and the teachers asked for a two-year pay increase of 20%.

The district has proposed a two-year pay increase of 23%, with the first 2% retroactive to the 2020-21 school year and the final 5% in the 2024-25 school year. More full-time jobs and improved health insurance would be part of the package, as would a one-time 3% incentive for employees who have been with the company for more than a year.

Los Angeles New Mayor Avoids Public Role in School Strike

Tens of thousands of Los Angeles teachers and school workers were getting ready to walk off the job while Mayor Karen Bass was at the state Capitol 400 miles away, accepting an award, Politico noted.

While maintaining she has been actively involved behind the scenes to head off significant disruptions from a three-day strike that began on Tuesday, Bass, the recently elected mayor of America's second-largest city, has gone out of her way to avoid a visible role in the heated dispute.

After receiving the award from the Women's Caucus of the California State Legislature in Sacramento, she claimed in an interview that she was "personally engaged" with the issue.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is independent of the mayor's office. Bass, a former member of Congress who defeated a well-funded rival to win in November and become the first Black woman to lead the city, will face her first serious test with the strike, which will cause tens of thousands of parents to scramble for daycare and cause some children to skip meals.

Los Angeles Unified School District Families Use Makeshift Daycare as Strike Continues

As a result of a three-day strike, hundreds of thousands of pupils in the Los Angeles Unified School District were kept at home, and their parents swarmed to the makeshift building set up to support them, CBS News reports.

"This all came together probably in the last 24 hours," said recreation supervisor Mark Rose.

Crews had to move quickly to build 30 temporary schools to provide childcare and free meals in the week coming up to the strike.

Up to fifty kids in grades one through five can be accommodated at each location, including California's Los Angeles Expo Center in the heart of the city.

"We provide breakfast, snacks, and lunch as well as recreation-based activities," Rose explained, adding that to keep the children calm, they play games, make crafts, and even practice yoga and meditation.

Despite the Los Angeles teachers' strike, Rose claims that staff members have kept the news of the walkout from the pupils.

He said his staff's role is to encourage and occupy the students while they wait.

"We're just letting them know that the teachers are taking a break this week," he said.

The district also established 21 quick-service food delivery locations in addition to the daycares.

Several of these facilities, including Pacoima's Ritchie Valens Recreation Center, featured lengthy lines of automobiles with parents waiting for their turn.

Jesua Macias Magana, a parent in California's Los Angeles Unified School District, thought the food was "wonderful" and better than she expected because it included vegetables and grains.

The after-school programs run Monday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The hours of operation of the grab-and-go food sites are open between 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Los Angeles schools close over employee strike - From NBC News