{"id":702862,"date":"2023-01-24T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=702862"},"modified":"2023-03-21T10:04:17","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T14:04:17","slug":"nail-in-the-coffin-lausd-parents-and-employees-predict-disaster-if-workers-strike","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/nail-in-the-coffin-lausd-parents-and-employees-predict-disaster-if-workers-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Nail in the Coffin\u2019: LAUSD Parents and Employees Predict Disaster if Workers Strike"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Updated Feb. 13<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>SEIU Local 99 announced on Feb. 11 that the strike authorization had passed with 96% support from members who voted. The authorization does not guarantee a strike but allows the union\u2019s bargaining team to call one if necessary. The union\u2019s first state-run mediation session with LAUSD is scheduled for Feb. 21.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If LAUSD workers, parents, and administrators agree on one thing it\u2019s that nobody wants a strike.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this month, the union representing Los Angeles Unified\u2019s service workers \u2014 including 30,000 custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and special education assistants&nbsp; \u2014&nbsp; issued its clearest threat to date in its years-long contract negotiations with LAUSD, announcing that it would hold a strike authorization vote this month.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEIU Local 99\u2019s members&nbsp;regard the prospect grimly. Earning an average annual salary of $25,000, many said they could not afford to forgo a paycheck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"cta_snippet\"><hr><p><em>Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. <\/em><a class=\"arrow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/about\/newsletters\/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=top&utm_id=newsletter\"><strong>Sign up for The 74 Newsletter<\/strong><\/a><\/p><hr><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, between now and Feb. 10, they plan to vote in favor of the work stoppage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re having a hard time making it,\u201d said Hugh Alston, a special education assistant at 93rd St. Elementary. \u201cI would reluctantly have to vote yes. All of us. We\u2019d stick together.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at a press conference earlier this month that concluding contract negotiations with Local 99 was his \u201chighest priority,\u201d and promised to \u201coffset the pressure of inflation for all our workforce\u201d with \u201ca multi-year contract that will, at all levels, outpace what has been provided to other workforce groups across the country.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf we are to retain, incentivize, and recruit the highly skilled workforce we need as far as teachers and support staff, we need to provide adequate compensation that addresses the critical challenges facing anyone in this community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"inline_story shortcode simple\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/nail-in-the-coffin-lausd-parents-and-employees-predict-disaster-if-workers-strike\/\"><figure style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-23-at-12.56.32-PM-copy.jpg);\"><\/figure><div><span class=\"sans related_tag\">Related<\/span><h4 class=\"sans\">\u2018Nail in the Coffin\u2019: LAUSD Parents and Employees Predict Disaster if Workers Strike<\/h4><\/div><\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>LAUSD offered the union 5% wage increases for multiple school years, but union leaders called that insufficient, accusing the district of ignoring proposals regarding increased work hours and expanded health coverage.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though financially padded for the current school year, LAUSD officials expect budget cuts over the years to come, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/nearly-70-of-homeless-students-in-lausd-chronically-absent-last-year\/\">persistent absenteeism<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2022-05-18\/l-a-unified-enrollment-expect-to-plummet-leading-to-academic-and-employment-worries\">declining enrollment<\/a>, the latter due in part to exasperated parents fleeing the district. Families still recovering from remote schooling and other pandemic disruptions worry that a strike could be the \u201cnail in the coffin\u201d for LAUSD.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can absolutely tell you that one more major disruption like that, that\u2019ll be it,\u201d said Christie Pesicka, a parent advocate in the district. \u201cEnrollment will plummet again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An LAUSD spokesman declined to comment on how the system would respond to a strike, refusing to lay out a backup plan for services like bussing, food prep, cleaning, and after-school programs. He also would not say if the district was considering remote schooling.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is clear is that workers are angry. In an interview with The 74, Local 99 executive director Max Arias described <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/heroes-to-zeroes-l-a-school-staff-plans-strike-vote\/\">the union\u2019s rally<\/a> in front of the district\u2019s administrative headquarters in December as \u201cmilitant.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI fully expect that it\u2019s gonna go through,\u201d he said of the strike authorization vote.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The union\u2019s members have been working without a contract since June 2020.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Initially, that was because of the pandemic. While teachers and administrators carried out their duties remotely, many service workers kept at their on-site tasks, cleaning facilities and preparing sack lunches. Little time, said Arias, was left for collective bargaining.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Negotiations resumed with the easing of COVID restrictions, but the two parties have been at&nbsp; loggerheads. The district\u2019s latest move came in December, when it offered the workers a 5% wage increase for each of the 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 school years and a couple of one-time bonuses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Local 99 characterized the offer as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seiu99.org\/2022\/12\/21\/lausd-bargaining-update-not-enough-movement-negotiations-are-stuck-impasse-declared\/\">insufficient and divisive<\/a>, and in late December declared impasse before California\u2019s labor relations board and requested a mediator to shepherd the parties towards an agreement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo date, LAUSD is not engaging in good faith negotiations regarding proposed contract<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>language changes,\u201d reads the request for mediation. \u201cEver since we started this process, LAUSD has not seriously considered most of our proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Workers say poor conditions, a lack of respect, and resulting staffing shortages harm morale and threaten the smooth operation of school facilities, making some of them unusable&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have urinals, toilets \u2014 we have sinks \u2014 that haven\u2019t been serviced in two years,\u201d said Edna Logan, a building and grounds worker at Manual Arts High School in South Central LA. \u201cIt\u2019s across the board where we are low-staffed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Logan said she plans to vote yes on authorization even though she doesn\u2019t \u201cwant it to come to that.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have to send a strong message,\u201d she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alston, whose role as a special education assistant guarantees him only six hours a day, works a second job nights and weekends in order to afford the rising cost of living in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He\u2019s considered leaving the district \u2014 and he\u2019s not alone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOh yes, I\u2019m looking now,\u201d said Elizabeth Thomas-Parker, a special education assistant and vice president of Local 99. \u201cI\u2019m looking at other districts.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas-Parker, whose husband supports the family with a second income, said her main demand is more respect for her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so rude and so toxic to where I don\u2019t want to have nothing to do with them,\u201d she said. \u201cIt used to be fun to work for LAUSD. It\u2019s not fun anymore.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until Feb. 10, Local 99 representatives will collect ballots from the union\u2019s 30,000 members at designated sites. Meanwhile, California\u2019s labor relations board has assigned a mediator to the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Logan, also a member of the union\u2019s bargaining team, wants one thing to come across clearly during mediation: \u201cWithout me, without my counterparts, the school would not be able to function.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parents, many of them service workers themselves, understand that keenly. According to Pesicka, they fear a reprise of the chaotic remote-learning months.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEverybody\u2019s exhausted,\u201d said Pesicka. \u201cIt\u2019s so much easier just to go to a neighboring school district, or to go to a charter school, or to go to a private school if you can afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated Feb. 13 SEIU Local 99 announced on Feb. 11 that the strike authorization had passed with 96% support from members who voted. The authorization does not guarantee a strike but allows the union\u2019s bargaining team to call one if necessary. The union\u2019s first state-run mediation session with LAUSD is scheduled for Feb. 21.&nbsp; If [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":702865,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[190],"tags":[1340,954,5484,1124,5722,895,5483],"series":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/702862"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/702862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":705594,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/702862\/revisions\/705594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702862"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=702862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}