(24 Mar 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4425912
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles - 23 March 2023
HEADLINE: Los Angeles school employees to end 3-day strike
1. Various of a rally by striking school workers under the city skyline
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Luz Varela, teacher's aide:
"I feel sad that we have to go through this because we're missing our kids, but we're doing this for our kids."
3. Varela holds signs at the rally
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Luz Varela, teacher's aide:
"I feel that we deserve a little bit more. It's not all about the money. This is about our future for our kids."
5. Various of sign waving and a speaker at the rally
ANNOTATION: Los Angeles public school workers are in the final day of a three-day strike in the nation's second -largest school district.
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6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sofia Munoz, special education teacher's assistant:
"I mean, this is day three. This is our last day, we were supposed to go on three days. We're hoping just to bring awareness and let the superintendent know that we're here to make a difference. If you don't give us what we want, then this is what's going to happen. Now you're going to see how much of a difference we're going to make without us being in our jobs."
7. Various of striking school workers at the rally
ANNOTATION: A spokesperson for one of the striking unions says they are hopeful they will come to an agreement with the school district.
STORYLINE:
A three-day strike by workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District was scheduled to wrap up Thursday, but it wasn't immediately clear if any progress was made in negotiations for higher pay for teachers’ aides, bus drivers, custodians and other support staff in the nation's second-largest school system.

Teachers joined the picket lines in solidarity, shutting down instruction for the district’s half-million students during the walkout by members of Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 30,000 of the lowest-paid school workers. Support staffers earn, on average, about $25,000 a year in Los Angeles, barely enough to get by in one of the most expensive cities in America.

Mayor Karen Bass stepped in as mediator Wednesday after district Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho accused the union of refusing to negotiate.

Max Arias, executive director of SEIU Local 99, said the union was grateful that Bass was helping, but there was no indication Thursday how the arbitration was going.

Carvalho has called the school district's offer “historic.” It includes a cumulative 23% raise, starting with 2% retroactive as of the 2020-21 school year and ending with 5% in 2024-25. The package would also give a one-time 3% bonus to those who have been on the job more than a year. It would also add more full-time positions and expand health care benefits.

The district confirmed in a statement Wednesday that school officials have been in talks with union leaders with help from the mayor.

The union has said employees, including special education assistants, cafeteria workers and gardeners, would return to work on Friday.

The strike was ending after putting a spotlight on the issue of notoriously underpaid workers who serve as the backbone of schools across the country.

SEIU Local 99 says many of its members live in poverty because of low pay or limited work hours while struggling with inflation and the high cost of housing. The union is seeking a 30% raise for workers.





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