Threat Of Closed Schools Tuesday Looms As LAUSD Negotiations Continue

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Unified School District continued to meet Monday with Service Employees International Union Local 99 - Education Workers United in hopes of reaching an agreement that would avert a strike on Tuesday and keep campuses open for hundreds of thousands of students, after reaching tentative agreements with two other unions.

While negotiations continued, a coalition of groups such as the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and Reclaim Our Schools, among others, rallied at Edward R. Roybal Learning Center to urge LAUSD to settle a contract with Local 99.

"It takes more than teachers to shape a student's education. Counselors, nurses, bus drivers, cafeteria workers — these are the people who make our schools run," Daniel Sierra, a senior at Roybal Learning Center and a leader with Students Deserve, said in a statement. "If one group of workers hasn't won, then none of us have won."

Coalition members also celebrated the agreements reached between the LAUSD and its two other unions.

The district reached a tentative agreement late Sunday night with Associated Administrators Los Angeles, which represents roughly 3,000 administrators, after reaching a tentative two-year agreement earlier in the day with United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing its roughly 35,000 educators.

"Los Angeles Unified is pleased to announce that on Sunday, April 12, the District reached a tentative agreement with Associated Administrators Los Angeles (AALA)/Teamsters 2010 that increases their members' salary by 11.65% over two years and a reopener for year three," district officials announced in a statement.

The tentative agreements reached with the two unions would not avert a strike because those unions are expected to honor picket lines if an agreement cannot be reached with SEIU, which represents about 30,000 bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and special education assistants.

UTLA noted the agreement on Instagram, pointing out that its members still need to vote to approve the contract.

"Early this morning UTLA's 150-member Bargaining Team reached a tentative two-year agreement with the district with big wins that the team enthusiastically recommends to UTLA members for ratification. The flexing of our collective power forced LAUSD to direct significant funding into critical priorities identified by UTLA members in the Win Our Future contract demands," the union said Sunday, promising that more details would be forthcoming in an email to its members.

According to the union, among the terms of the proposed deal is an increase in starting teacher pay from $68,966 to $77,000, along with a "significant pay increase and restructuring of LAUSD's outdated salary table point system to help recruit new educators and retain veteran teachers amid a growing teacher shortage."

A later Instagram post noted the agreement also includes a flexible work day, smaller class sizes and student support staffing.

"This success comes after 11 months at the bargaining table and an 8- month democratic process in which UTLA members and the community identified priorities and spent a year of intense collective action to force LAUSD to agree to (these) tentative proposals," UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz said.

The teachers union, along with SEIU Local 99 and AALA, combined represent nearly 70,000 LAUSD employees, and the three had agreed to jointly walk out in solidarity Tuesday if contract agreements were not reached — a move that would have hobbled daily operations at the district's 1,302 campuses.

A top official with SEIU Local 99 said Sunday that the union would "continue to move forward with plans to strike starting on Tuesday."

"The tentative agreement reached by United Teachers Los Angeles demonstrates that the school district can make movement to address the needs of front-line workers and the students we serve," SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias said. "We continue to be open to the mediation process with the school district. Just as we work together every day in our classrooms and campuses, we are proud to be united with teachers and principals in the fight for our schools, students, and communities. LAUSD can avert a strike by ending the harassment and retaliation against SEIU Local 99 workers and presenting proposals that ensure equity and fairness for everyone who contributes to student learning."

The LAUSD, the nation's second-largest school system, serves roughly 400,000 students daily, providing education, meals and child care.

On Thursday, district officials launched a dedicated website — schoolupdates.lausd.org — where students, parents and others could keep tabs on the negotiations and find available resources including food distribution sites, learning and mental health resources, alternative child care options, as well as tech support for devices and connectivity.

City News Service