At 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 21, time officially ran out for the Los Angeles Unified School District to reach an labor contract agreement and avert a long-looming and heavily dreaded three-day strike.
Related: Here’s where families can get help during LAUSD strike
In the dark and early hours of the morning scores of school bus drivers arrived at the Van Nuys Bus Yard in time for their normal shift, but instead of getting behind the wheel they got into picket lines, rallying in the rain to demand higher pay and better working conditions.
The strike is led by SEIU Local 99, the service worker union representing 30,000 bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and special education assistants. They are joined by members of the teachers’ union, United Teachers Los Angles, who are also walking off the job in a show of solidarity.
The workers joined picket lines in steady showers before dawn, demanding better wages and increased staffing. Some held signs that read “We keep schools safe, Respect Us!” The district has more than 500,000 students from Los Angeles and all or part of 25 other cities and unincorporated county areas.
“The working conditions have gone down every year,” Danielle Murray, a special education assistant who was picketing, told KABC-TV. “We’re very understaffed. The custodial staff is a ghost crew, so the schools are dirty. They’re doing the best they can.”
She added, “Some people are saying, ‘If you want more money, get a better job.’ Well, some of us have bachelor’s degrees, but we choose to work with a special population that some people don’t want to work with. We want to make a difference to these students.”
While both unions are seeking contract agreements, it is the concerns of SEIU members — who have an average salary of 25K — that are at the forefront of the strike. They are seeking a 30% raise over time, more reliable hours for part-time workers and a crackdown against employee harassment.
As a…
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