Over 1,000 Los Angeles Schools Closed Due To Massive School Workers Strike - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2023) More than 1,000 schools in Los Angeles will be shut down for three days starting March 21 due to a massive strike in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in which over 30,000 school workers are willing to participate, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

About 30,000 education system employees including cafeteria workers, custodians and bus drivers will join the three-day strike, beginning at 4:30 a.m. local time (11:30 GMT) to protest what Service Employees International Union Local 99 (SEIU Local 99) described as "unfair labor practices," the newspaper reported. The LAUSD, the US' second largest district, consists of more than 1,000 schools with 600,000 students enrolled.

The SEIU Local 99 union that represents education workers stated that the strike is a result of a year of negotiations over a 30 percent wage increase and a $2 per hour pay raise for school support workers marked by threats and harassment towards the union members.

Even though it's teachers are not directly engaged in the debate, the United Teachers Los Angeles union representing 35,000 educators announced that they would honor the strike.

In 2019, Los Angeles schools were shut down when thousands of education workers went on a six-day strike. The strike led to district authorities approving a 6% pay raise and a promise to cut class sizes.