Los Angeles school district, union reach deal after 3-day worker strike. What's next?

An agreement has been reached between the Los Angeles Unified School District and a union representing education employees after a contentious three-day strike, the parties said Friday.

The deal includes pay raises along with bonus payments, retroactive pay and health benefits. The agreement still needs the approval of members from Service Employees International Union Local 99 members and the LAUSD school board.

"The agreement addresses our key demands and sets us on a clear pathway to improving our livelihoods and securing the staffing we need to improve student services," Local 99 said in a statement on its website. "It was members’ dedication to winning respect from the District that made this agreement possible."

The new deal comes hours after more than 400,000 students in the nation's second-largest school district returned to classes on Friday. The three-day impasse saw more than 60,000 workers hit the picket lines demanding better pay and benefits.

"We are excited to welcome everyone back at school. Thank you for your patience, understanding and collaboration as we navigated through this week," school officials said.

The details of the tentative agreement

According to the union, which represents about 30,000 school employees including bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria employees, campus security, teaching assistants and aides, the deal addresses many of the key issues it wanted from the district.

It includes a 30% wage increase; retroactive pay of $4,000 to $8,000, depending on job classification, including a $1000 bonus; an increase to the workers' average annual salary from $25,000 to $33,000 and 7 hours of work guaranteed for special education assistants.

Other details under the terms of the tentative deal, which span from July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2024, the union and the district also agreed to raise the minimum wage for the service workers to $22.52 an hour.

Health benefits will also be secured for part-time employees assigned to work 4 or more hours a day, including coverage for their qualified dependents. The deal also increases hours and pay for paraprofessionals who serve students with special needs and a $3 million investment in an Education and Professional Development Fund. 

"I am appreciative of SEIU Local 99's leadership for coming back to the table to negotiate an agreement that addresses the needs of our employees and brings students back to the classroom," Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said late Friday afternoon.

The deal came after a year of negotiating and this week's short strike as both sides appeared so far apart that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and her staff stepped in to negotiate. 

Bass thanked Carvalho and SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho for working with her to put the district's "families first." 

"We must continue working together to address our city's high cost of living, to grow opportunity and to support more funding for LA’s public schools, which are the most powerful determinant of our city’s future," said Bass, who added she has no formal oversight of the city's schools. "But that will never stop me when it comes to fighting for our children and their families."

Carvalho also thanked Bass for her support in bringing the parties back to the bargaining table.

"When we started negotiating with SEIU, we promised to deliver on three goals," Carvalho said. "We wanted to honor and elevate the dignity of our workforce and correct well-known, decades-long inequities impacting the lowest-wage earners. We wanted to continue supporting critical services for our students.

"We wanted to protect the financial viability of the district for the long haul," the superintendent added. "Promises made, promises delivered."

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Will Los Angeles school workers go on strike again?

It's not known.

The district's 35,000 teachers joined their striking school district colleagues in solidarity. The United Teachers Los Angeles, a teachers’ union representing most educators, is in separate contract negotiations with the district.

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How often do union workers go on strike?

Last year, more than 120,000 U.S. workers participated in major strikes over the prior year, a significant increase according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the Economic Policy Institute. Still, it's a considerable decline from pre-pandemic levels in 2018 and 2019, the institute said.  

This was the second strike in the Los Angeles school district in four years. In 2019, teachers went on strike for six days before reaching what then-Mayor Eric Garcetti, who participated in the negotiations, described as a "historic" agreement. 

Los Angeles teachers' strike:Here's what you need to know

The agreement included a 6% raise for teachers, smaller class sizes and more nurses and counselors at schools.