Topline:
Officials in the Los Angeles Unified School District say they’re getting ready for a possible strike by thousands of cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, special ed assistants and others.
What’s the union? Service Employees International Union Local 99 represents more than 30,000 workers in LAUSD. Those workers announced plans this week to
cancel their contract
as labor talks over a new deal stall.
The union says the school district was notified yesterday of the pending cancellation of the contract. Back in February, the workers gave the union the OK to call a strike if negotiations failed.
What’s the district’s response? In a statement on Wednesday, LAUSD
said that it is “disappointed”
the union is — in its words — “walking away from negotiations with so much on the table.”
Why now? The
last long-term SEIU contract
ran from 2017-2020, but the pandemic derailed a new one. The contract under negotiation now is actually for 2021 through 2023. Any pay increases would be applied retroactively, and the union wants the increases to be permanent.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez contributed reporting to this piece.
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