LA non‑teaching staff strike looming
SEIU Local 99 says its planned April 14 strike of non‑teaching LAUSD staff is still on, raising immediate risks for supervision, transport and special‑ed support that classrooms rely on (sgvtribune.com). The district has offered a 13% raise over three years and is drawing up contingency plans including online learning and food distribution if the strike proceeds ( ).
A strike by cafeteria workers, bus drivers, special education assistants and custodians in Los Angeles could start Tuesday, April 14, and the district is already planning for online lessons, meal pickup and child supervision if that happens. Service Employees International Union Local 99 said after Thursday’s mediation session that the strike was still on. (nbclosangeles.com, sgvtribune.com) This is not just a pay dispute over office jobs. Service Employees International Union Local 99 covers the adults who get children onto buses, serve lunches, clean campuses and help students with disabilities through the school day. (nbclosangeles.com) The district’s latest public offer to that union is a 13% salary increase spread over three years. The union is asking for more money, steadier work schedules and protection against layoffs that were approved as part of the district’s budget cuts. (nbclosangeles.com) Those layoff plans are one reason this fight has widened. In February, the Los Angeles Unified School District board approved notices tied to more than 700 positions while projecting an $877 million deficit for the 2026-27 school year after enrollment losses and the end of one-time COVID money. (nbclosangeles.com) Now the non-teaching staff union is moving in step with two other big labor groups: United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents teachers, and the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents principals and other administrators. Local reporting says the three unions together represent about 68,000 employees. (laist.com, laist.com) That makes this different from a normal one-union walkout. If teachers, school support staff and principals all stop work at once, Los Angeles Unified says it would be its first strike since 2019, and local outlets say schools would likely shut down across a district that serves about 400,000 students each day. (nbclosangeles.com, laist.com) Los Angeles Unified is the nation’s second-largest school district, and its own newsroom says it enrolls more than 520,000 students across 710 square miles of Los Angeles County. That size is why even backup plans like food distribution and device lending turn into a citywide logistics operation. (lausd.org) The district says families should be ready for take-home instructional materials, access to online learning, food distribution sites, technology help, mental health support and community-based child care or supervision options. It has also launched a dedicated updates site for families as bargaining continues. (lausd.org, nbclosangeles.com) Talks are still moving, but not fast enough to calm anyone yet. The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported that Los Angeles Unified and United Teachers Los Angeles ended Wednesday talks without a deal and planned to resume Saturday, while Service Employees International Union Local 99 said no extra bargaining sessions were scheduled after Thursday. (sgvtribune.com, nbclosangeles.com) So the immediate question in Los Angeles is not whether classrooms have teachers assigned to them on paper. It is whether schools can run safely on April 14 without the people who open gates, drive routes, hand out meals, supervise children and provide one-on-one support that many students rely on every day. (nbclosangeles.com, laist.com)
