Advisory for Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Contact: Blanca Gallegos 213-500-9594

Cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants, and other essential school workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District will rally in front of LAUSD headquarters and announce plans to hold a strike authorization vote. A vote in support of a strike would authorize SEIU Local 99’s bargaining team to call for a strike if a contract agreement cannot be reached. 

The contract covering nearly 30,000 school workers who perform essential student services at LAUSD expired in 2020. Negotiations were halted as many SEIU Local 99 members worked during the pandemic. Negotiations resumed in April 2022. 

“After months of bargaining, LAUSD has stalled or outright rejected our proposals for clean, safe, and supportive schools. Workers are calling for living wage increases, equitable health care benefits, and more full-time work to address the dire staffing shortages,” said Max Arias, Executive Director of SEIU Local 99. 

The average salary of school workers at LAUSD is $25,000/year and most work part-time hours, making it difficult to retain and recruit sufficient staff for student services. This is leading to serious staffing shortages, including:

• Insufficient teacher assistants, special education assistants, and other instructional support to address learning loss and achievement gaps
• Substandard cleaning and disinfecting at schools because of a lack of custodial staff
• Jeopardized campus safety due to overloaded campus aides and playground supervisors
• Limited enrichment, after-school, and parent engagement programs due to reduced work hours and lack of health care benefits for after school workers and community representatives

WHAT: Rally at LAUSD Headquarters – 333 S. Beaudry Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90017

WHEN: Tuesday, December 13, 2022

5:00 pm – Picketing, marching, chanting during the school board meeting

5:30 pm – Rally and announcement of strike vote plans

WHO: LAUSD cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants, students, parents, community allies, and others.

VISUALS: Hundreds of school workers holding signs, chanting with bullhorns, rallying in front of LAUSD headquarters. Speakers from a flatbed truck. 

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