When LAUSD teachers went on strike in 2019 it was the first time such an action had taken place in 30 years. Now, just four years later, schools are shut down as teachers and service workers alike walk off the job.
It begs the question: How did the district wind up here again?
The answers require a close look at both the strike of 2019 and the “unprecedented,” as they are oft referred to, events that have taken place since.
It also requires understanding that the two strikes are very different.
Different unions, different demands
The 2019 strike was led solely by the 35,000-member teachers’ union, United Teachers Los Angeles, in the name of smaller classes, less power to charter schools, less standardized testing and more nurses, among other issues.
It lasted for six highly disruptive days and concluded with a deal reached between the union and then Superintendent Austin Beutner inside the walls of City Hall.
This time around, the strike is not led by teachers, but by the service workers in SEIU Local 99. This 30,000-member union represents bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, instructional aides and special education assistants.
The contract agreement reached at the end of the strike in 2019 did not include pay raise concessions from the district.
The increases agreed upon were the same that the district had on the table prior to the strike — an immediate 3% pay raise and another 3% the following year — Beutner said in a recent interview.
This time around pay raises are the central issue. SEIU is seeking a much heftier raise of 30% over time plus an additional pay bump for their lowest-paid members.
UTLA members are joining them on the picket line in a show of solidarity.
“There’s this genuine joy from SEIU that teachers are behind them,” said history teacher Ron Bauer at a rally on Wednesday. “We went on strike in 2019, but they have been without a fair contract for far too long.”
As a result of the unions’ collective action,…
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