LOS ANGELES — A mammoth strike led by Los Angeles Unified’s lowest-paid workers and supported by teachers kept district campuses closed Wednesday, as the second day of a three-day walkout brought throngs of staff and teachers back to the picket lines.
The strike, set to last through Thursday, culminated a monthslong escalation of labor tensions in the nation’s second-largest school district of 420,000 students. Bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants, cafeteria workers — members of Local 99 of Service Employees International Union — are calling for a 30% salary increase, plus $2 more per hour for the lowest-paid employees.
Last ditch-efforts to avert the walkout failed late Monday, and no new talks are scheduled. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has pleaded with employees to return to bargaining, calling the district’s offer of a 23% pay increase and 3% bonus “historic.”
