It’s a cruel irony that while Los Angeles Unified School District service workers are walking off the job to demand better pay, many of them cannot afford to miss work during the three-day strike, which is why teachers and parents are stepping in to help.
At schools across Los Angeles, fundraisers are helping recoup the lost wages for striking members of SEIU Local 99, the union representing 30,000 bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants, cafeteria workers and instructional aides.
“We heard some of our SEIU co-workers say ‘I really want to be on the picket line, I really want to strike, but I’m not sure if I can make it work,’ so that’s when we decided to raise money,” said Hannah Day, a teacher at Elysian Heights Arts Magnet in Echo Park, who launched a GoFundMe to support striking service workers at her school.
The three-day LAUSD strike is led by SEIU Local 99 with thousands of teachers’ union members, like Day, walking out in solidarity.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has made what he calls a “historic offer” to SEIU Local 99, including a 23% raise over time and 3% retention bonus, but union leaders say this falls short of what is needed to keep workers above the poverty line and at pace with inflation. They are demanding a 30% raise over time.
The average annual salary of SEIU members is $25,000 and many work part-time. One in three members have experienced homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless, while one in four are experiencing food instability, according to a union survey.
“For people who are on the verge of experiencing homelessness, for people who don’t have enough food to eat, missing three days of work is no small potatoes,” said Day. “It’s a huge sacrifice.”
Day’s fundraiser has collected almost $5,000 in just two days thanks to donations from both parents and teachers.
“It’s not charity,” she said. “Donating to our GoFundMe is an act of solidarity and appreciation for the stance…
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