LOS ANGELES — A massive three-day strike calling for better wages and working conditions for some of Los Angeles public schools’ lowest paid employees — bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants and others — kicked off early Tuesday, with picketers marching through the dark, rainy morning.
Those striking school employees, joined in solidarity by the teachers union, shuttered the nation’s second-largest school system after last-minute efforts to avert the strike failed, disrupting learning, vital meal services and the daily lives of 420,000 children and their families.
By 5 a.m., when school bus drivers typically begin their day, hundreds of district employees joined the picket line at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Van Nuys bus yard, marching in rain ponchos and balancing signs with their umbrellas.
Employees shouted, “Whose house? Our house!” according to a tweet from the union, and held signs that read “Last straw” and “We demand respect!”
Other strikers have taken to picket lines at many schools throughout the sprawling district, stating their grievances.
“As a building engineer, I was called an essential worker by LAUSD during the pandemic ... but it seems LAUSD has forgotten that,” Conrado Guerrero, president of the striking Local 99 of Service Employees International Union, said Tuesday at a news conference. “We refuse to be invisible. We refuse to be silenced. We are ready to fight. ... United, we will win!”
Max Arias, executive director of Local 99, said the decision to walk off the job was the “workers’ last resort” after almost a year of bargaining for better wages without success. The union is demanding a 30% salary increase, plus $2 more per hour for the lowest paid employees.
“We’ve had enough of empty promises,” Arias said from Robert F. Kennedy Community School in Koreatown. “If LAUSD truly values and is serious about reaching an agreement, they must show workers the respect they deserve.”
U.S. Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., joined the striking workers at Kennedy Community School, calling the median income of $25,000 for bus drivers, cafeteria workers and school aides “poverty wages.”
“People with some of the most important responsibilities in our schools should not have to live in poverty,” Schiff said. “They deserve to work in dignity and live in dignity.”
There had been hope of averting the walkout based on informal conversations over the weekend and mediation that resumed Monday between the school district and Local 99, but no agreement was reached.
Arias has said a primary goal of Local 99 has been to raise the average annual wage of members from $25,000 to $36,000.
This weekend, the offer from the district, according to its leaders, was a cumulative 23% raise, starting with 2% retroactive as of the 2020-21 school year and ending with 5% in 2024-25. The package would also include a one-time 3% bonus for those who have be on the job since 2020-21, along with expanded hours, more full-time positions and improved eligibility for health care benefits.
United Teachers Los Angeles — which represents teachers, nurses, therapists, counselors and librarians — has joined the picket line in support of Local 99.
“We will stand united — 65,000 members strong — until LAUSD and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho give respect to the education workers that keep our schools running and our children safe,” Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of UTLA, said early Tuesday.
Alejandra Sanchez, a special education assistant, was one of 20 picketers in front of Eagle Rock Junior/Senior High School.
She was chanting, “Fair wages,” from Yosemite Drive and La Roda Avenue while holding a “Respect Us! Pay Us!” sign.
“I don’t know how the district expects us to survive by paying us so little,” Sanchez said.
Her job isn’t easy. She said students with behavioral issues sometimes pull her long black hair, and her arms have been scratched and bitten.
“They don’t mean harm,” the 18-year LAUSD employee said. “They’re just trying to learn, and I’m going to do everything I can to help them.
“I love my work and the students,” said Sanchez, 45. “And it’s sad that I have to get up today in the rain to fight for respect because the district doesn’t understand what I and so many others do.”
Pay for aides who work with special education students starts around $19 and they can earn up to about $24 an hour working six hours a day.
“If this is what it takes, then I’ll be out here to protest because I need the extra pay,” she said. “We all do.”
Charles Flowers, a campus aide at the Eagle Rock school, said he understood the burden the strike would cause on students, but asked parents for patience.
“We need you on our side,” he said. “We know it’s difficult, but we all survived the pandemic, and I think we can get through three days.”
Flowers helps in a few high school classes, sometimes answering student questions, checking assignments or helping with quizzes.
“My job is to help the students,” he said. “I love doing it, but I also have to be paid a good wage.”
Flowers was joined on the Eagle Rock picket line by high school teacher Pablo Oliveros.
“We are out here speaking up for our SEIU brothers and sisters who are living below the poverty line,” said Oliveros, 41, a 21-year art teacher. “This can’t continue to happen.”
