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LOS ANGELES () — The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Monday will continue last-minute negotiations on an agreement to avert a looming strike and keep campuses open for hundreds of thousands of students.
On Sunday, the district reached tentative contract agreements with two unions representing teachers and administrators.
SEIU Local 99, which represents custodians, food workers, special education assistants and bus drivers, is still negotiating. If they are unable to come to a consensus, tens of thousands of workers will go on strike starting Tuesday, and teachers have pledged to stand with the union in a sympathy strike.
“We will continue to meet with Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 99 with the intent to reach an agreement that would allow us to keep schools open on Tuesday, April 14,” LAUSD shared in a statement.
While tentative agreements represent a win for teachers and administrators, there is still one union awaiting its own agreement — which means there could still be a strike with tens of thousands of other school workers.
Over the weekend, LAUSD reached a tentative agreement with the Associated Administrators Los Angeles (AALA)/Teamsters 2010 that will increase their members’ salary by 11.65% over two years with a reopener in the third year of the agreement.
The United Teachers Los Angeles Union (UTLA) also reached a tentative agreement on Sunday with the district.
“It’s been a long road to get here, so I feel pretty good about today,” said Armaghan Khan, a science teacher and member of the UTLA bargaining team.
The district’s two-year contract agreement with UTLA increases salary scales for union members by 11.65% and increases the beginning teacher salary to $77,000 a year. It also includes more student mental health counselors, four weeks of district-paid parental leave and reduced class sizes for Special Education classes.
“If they don’t have to work for Uber or a side hustle, that’s more energy they have for the classroom. That’s more focus they can bring to the students. At the end of the day, for me and all my colleagues, it’s always about the students,” Khan said.
Still, SEIU Local 99’s agreement with the district continues in mediation, with their group requesting higher salaries and more staffing for safer classrooms.
Eyewitness News spoke to a mother with two kids in LAUSD who is also a special education assistant. She shared that her union doesn’t want to strike and hopes to come to an agreement.
“What they’re offering continues to keep us below the poverty line. So we’re asking for wages that put us a little slightly above the poverty line. As you know, cost of living just continues to increase, especially living in Los Angeles County. It’s almost unlivable,” said Jazmin Araujo-Vargas. “Most of our members can’t afford a one-bedroom home or a one-bedroom apartment in L.A., so we’re not keeping up with cost of living.”
SEIU Local 99 will continue striking every day, starting on Tuesday, until a deal is made with the district. The teachers union said it will stand with them in solidarity, potentially impacting the school days ahead.
The United Teachers Los Angeles shared the following statement after its tentative agreement was made:
“UTLA’s 150-member Bargaining Team reached a tentative two-year agreement with the district with big wins that the team enthusiastically recommends to UTLA members for ratification.
The flexing of our collective power forced LAUSD to direct significant funding into critical priorities identified by UTLA members in the Win Our Future contract demands.”
Superintendent Alberto Calvarho has not been involved in talks as he’s on administrative leave during an ongoing FBI investigation.
L.A. teachers last went on strike in March 2023. They joined service workers in solidarity on a three-day walkout, shuttering schools. The service workers union pushed for better wages and staffing for custodians, bus drivers and special education assistants.
LAUSD, the nation’s second-largest school system, serves roughly 400,000 students daily, providing education, meals and child care.
District officials launched a dedicated website where students, parents and others could keep tabs on the negotiations and find available resources including food distribution sites, learning and mental health resources, alternative child care options, as well as tech support for devices and connectivity.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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