Los Angeles School District Dodges Strike at Last Minute

Los Angeles, CA On April 13, the Los Angeles United School District (LAUSD) reached an agreement in principle with the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), SEIU Local 99 and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles/Teamsters Local 2010 (AALA). The agreement averts an April 14 strike that would have shut down the nation’s second largest school district.

Contrary to a recent Washington Post opinion piece that announced, “There is no right to strike against public schools,” LAUSD workers’ right to strike is protected by California labor law.  

The teachers, administrators and school support staff hung tough and got much of what they asked for. It was a victory for school workers. But was this good or was this bad for students and their families? Would a strike have endangered students? That is the relevant question under California law.

UTLA represents more than 30,000 classroom teachers, psychologists, attendance counselors, guidance counselors, nurses and secondary school librarians. The union sought wage increases totaling roughly 17 percent over two years. The increases focused particularly on early-career educators. It cited rising inflation and widespread debt among members and contended that twenty percent of its membership was housing insecure.

In an agreement reached on Sunday, April 12, UTLA won a base salary of $77,000 for starting teachers and an average salary increase of almost 14 percent in the next two years.

SEIU Local 99 represents 30,000 school support staffers – including teacher’s aides, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, computer techs, custodians and gardeners. Their members include some of the school district’s lowest-paid workers.

Local 99 asked for double-digit wage increases over a three-year contract. In addition, the union sought stable work schedules for its members because many of them have had their hours cut to a point where they fell below the threshold necessary to qualify for health benefits. The union says the average salary for its members is $35,000 per year, a number that hovers around the national poverty threshold for a family of four in  2026.

The agreement in principle was reached at the eleventh hour on Tuesday morning. Details have yet to be finalized. Pending ratification by the membership, Local 99 appears to have achieved a 24 percent wage increase.

AALA, the smallest of the three unions engaged in negotiations, represents about 3,000 principals, assistant principals and central and regional office middle managers. Maria Nichols, the union’s president, noted that, “All of us feel that the district’s priorities when it comes to investing in human capital have fallen short.” The agreement, reached on Sunday, netted the administrators a raise of more than 11 percent over two years.

The April 14 Washington Post editorial also denounced the Los Angeles school strike as “immoral.” This view of unionization and collective action falls along sharply partisan lines. Nonetheless, the comment highlights the importance of the community services that public schools provide.

California labor law attempts to balance the interests of teachers and support staff with the interests of students and families. California courts and the PERB have upheld the qualified right of public school employees to engage in strikes, particularly when demonstrating against unfair labor practices by a district. But teacher strikes in California can face limitations. If a strike endangers student health or safety, a court may issue an injunction to force teachers back to work and may hire temporary replacements.
Why, some may ask, is the debate trapped in zero sum thinking.

Why, some may ask, is the debate trapped in the zero sum thinking exemplified by the Post editorial?

Surely, students and families cannot benefit from the full care and attention of school workers who are living in their cars. Surely, kindergartners cannot pay attention when they are hungry or have no safe home to go to when school is over.

The LAUSD serves roughly 400,000 students, from transitional kindergarten through twelfth grade. An open-ended strike would have crippled school operations, likely for the rest of the school year. But the harm is not just a matter of classroom instruction.

The district serves more than 530,000 meals every day. Many of the students come from low-income households, and roughly 80 percent of families depend on these meals to feed their children. LAUSD had prepared contingency plans that included food distribution sites, take-home instruction and childcare if a walk-out occurred.

Although numbers are harder to track, thousands of LAUSD families also rely on the district for supplementary tutoring and before and after-school childcare. Among other benefits, this care may help parents remain employed.