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The second biggest school district in the US was closed Tuesday as tens of thousands of employees and teachers went on strike over stalled contract negotiations in Los Angeles.
Thousands of teachers’ aides, special education assistants, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and other SEIU Local 99 members in LA’s Unified School District joined picket lines Tuesday morning to demand better wages and increased staffing.
Some 35,000 teachers joined the strike in solidarity, forcing more than 1,000 schools in and around Los Angeles to close for the day and leaving over 500,000 students without classes. Workers began picketing at 4:30 a.m. over conditions that staff say have worsened each passing year.
“The working conditions have gone down every year,” Danielle Murphy, a special education assistant who was out picketing, told KABC-TV. “We’re very understaffed. The custodial staff is a ghost crew, so the schools are dirty. They’re doing the best they can.”
Special education assistant Fatima Grayson said a considerable number of the union members have to take on a second job in order to survive.
“We’re not getting an equitable wage to feed families, have housing,” Grayson reportedly said.
