A tentative agreement reached Friday between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the union representing support staff won raises of about 30% or more for the lowest-wage workers, one day after the end of a strike that shut down schools for three days.
If approved by union members, the agreement — achieved after mediation with Mayor Karen Bass — could prevent campuses from being closed again to 420,000 students and spare workers from job actions that would have been difficult to bear.
Local 99 of Service Employees International Union — which represents about 30,000 employees and includes bus drivers, teacher aides, special education assistants, custodians and food service workers — led the strike that began Tuesday and ended Thursday. Also on strike in solidarity were members of United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents about 35,000 teachers, counselors, therapists, nurses and librarians. UTLA remains in negotiations over its contract.
The deal with Local 99 is not an across-the-board increase but spread out over time and also affected by length of service and current salary — so that some workers will receive less than 30% and some more.
“Here in California this agreement will set new standards, not just for Los Angeles, but the entire state,” Max Arias, executive director of Local 99, said in a joint news conference at City Hall with Bass and L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho, who called it “a historic day.”
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