The Los Angeles Unified School District reached a tentative agreement with the union representing 30,000 essential school workers, averting a planned strike Tuesday that would have shut down campuses in the nation’s second-largest public school system.
The tentative accord with SEIU Local 99, which represents bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and special education assistants, was announced shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday, hours before the strike deadline. The district had reached tentative agreements with its teachers and administrators unions on Sunday, but a joint solidarity agreement between the three unions meant that a strike could still occur if talks between the district and SEIU Local 99 were not successful.
“We are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement in principle with SEIU Local 99 that will allow schools to be open today,” the LAUSD said on its website early Tuesday. “LAUSD and SEIU teams will continue to work together to finalize the details of a tentative agreement.”
According to SEIU Local 99, highlights of the deal include:
— a 24% wage increase “that will make a significant difference in workers’ livelihoods;
— Increased work hours that will ensure health care benefits for thousands of workers and their families and increase services and support for students;
— Rescinding layoffs of hundreds of IT technicians;
— Expansion of health care benefits for teacher assistants, after-school workers, community representatives and others;
— No subcontracting of work to outside vendors with a pathway to bring more work into the district.
“This agreement was won through the bold action and courage of thousands of workers who were willing to sacrifice to improve conditions in their schools and their lives,” SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias said. “A strike was always the last resort, and we are proud that we could work with the school district and Mayor Karen Bass to reach an agreement that recognizes the contributions of front line workers in our schools.”
SEIU Local 99 members still must vote to ratify the agreement.
The district reached a tentative agreement late Sunday night with Associated Administrators Los Angeles, which represents roughly 3,000 administrators, after reaching a tentative two-year agreement earlier in the day with United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing its roughly 35,000 educators.
“We are proud to have reached resolution with all of our labor partners — UTLA, SEIU, and AALA Teamsters Local 2010 — ensuring stability for our schools and continuity for the students and families we serve,” Acting LAUSD Superintendent Andrés Chait said. “Our commitments reflect the dedication of our entire workforce. We are grateful for the collaboration that made this possible and hopeful that this marks a new chapter of partnership. At the same time, we are clear-eyed about the challenges ahead and know that meeting them will require continued trust, shared responsibility, and a united focus on what matters most — our students.”
The district said earlier that the deal with Associated Administrators Los Angeles/Teamsters 2010 increases its members’ salary by 11.65% over two years with a re-opener for year three.
The full membership of AALA and UTLA still need to vote to approve the contracts.
According to the teachers union, among the terms of the proposed deal is an increase in starting teacher pay from $68,966 to $77,000, along with a “significant pay increase and restructuring of LAUSD’s outdated salary table point system to help recruit new educators and retain veteran teachers amid a growing teacher shortage.”
A later Instagram post noted the agreement also includes a flexible work day, smaller class sizes and student support staffing.
“This success comes after 11 months at the bargaining table and an 8-month democratic process in which UTLA members and the community identified priorities and spent a year of intense collective action to force LAUSD to agree to (these) tentative proposals,” UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said.
The teachers union, along with SEIU Local 99 and AALA, combined represent nearly 70,000 LAUSD employees.
The LAUSD serves roughly 400,000 students daily, providing education, meals and child care.