
As often happens during labor disputes, the numbers are flying fast and furious among the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the two unions that have conducted a three-day strike to protest stalled negotiations, low wages and what they say are unfair labor practices.
Numbers like $25,000, which Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) says is the average annual wage of its district workers: bus drivers, cafeteria employees, custodians, special education assistants. It is a figure far below any real-world estimate of what it takes to live in Los Angeles. (Disclosure: SEIU is a financial supporter of Capital & Main.)