ONE BIG THING: WHEN WE FIGHT, WE WIN
This week, LA teachers joined in solidarity with tens of thousands of school support staff, who have been working without a contract since 2020, on a 3-day strike for livable wages and fully-staffed schools.
Thanks for their collective action, LAUSD agreed to 30% wage increases, bonuses for all workers, better benefits, and more.
What’s in the agreement?
SEIU 99 and LAUSD’s tentative agreement includes:
- A 30% wage increase.
- Retroactive pay of $4000-$8000, depending on job classification, including a $1000 bonus for all.
- Increase to average annual salary from $25,000 to $33,000.
- Fully paid health care benefits, including family coverage, for teacher assistants, community representatives, after school program workers and others.
What comes next?
In the coming days, all school support staff will vote on ratifying this agreement, which would make these wins a reality.
Meanwhile, the teachers aren’t as far along in the bargaining process, so they will continue negotiating their contract in the coming weeks and months.
What they were fighting for
Better School Conditions
Because of the school district’s over-reliance on part-time, low-wage workers, there’s a dire staffing shortage in many of these support positions.
- There are not enough special education assistants to ride school buses to assist students with special needs.
- At many schools, bathrooms are locked because there are not enough custodians to clean them.
- A single campus aide can be responsible for the safety of hundreds of students on the playground.
- Lunch lines are long and students often do not have time to eat meals because there is a shortage of food service workers.
Livable Wages
Before this new agreement, the average salary of SEIU 99 school workers at LAUSD was $25,000/year.
- The fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles County is $1,747, which is 84% of the average SEIU Local 99 member’s monthly salary at LAUSD.
- 1 in 3 LAUSD school workers with SEIU Local 99 say they have been homeless or at high risk of becoming homeless while working at LAUSD.
Two More Things!
1. Right to an Eviction Lawyer Motion Approved!
What happened
Right now, renters don’t have a right to a lawyer when they’re facing eviction. But this week, our motion with Councilmembers Raman, Hernandez, Yaroslovsky, Blumenfield, Hutt, and Harris-Dawson was approved unanimously by City Council.
What's Next?
The Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) will work with the City Attorney to produce a report within 60 days on how exactly we will enshrine the right to a lawyer in eviction court into law.
After that report comes back, City Council can make an ordinance to officially implement this program.
Why it matters
Landlords in LA have a lawyer in 88% of eviction proceedings, but for tenants it’s just 3%. And we know that these laws keep people in their homes and prevent working families from falling into homelessness.
Since New York passed a Right to Counsel law, 84% of renters represented by city lawyers were able to remain in their homes.
2. Fixing LA – 311 and LA Conservation Corps
Did you know that you can report anything from potholes, to graffiti, to bulky items, and more for the city to fix by reporting it on the 311 app, website, or over the phone?
Download the MyLA311 App, go to the My311LA website, or dial 311 to report an issue.
Plus, because 311 requests can sometimes take a long time to resolve, our office works with the LA Conservation Corps, an environmentally-focused organization that trains and employs youth to clean up LA, to fill in the gaps!
We work with the LA Conservation Corps on more urgent clean-up and beautification projects so we can all enjoy our neighborhoods to their full potential. So make sure to submit 311 requests to let the city know what your neighborhood needs.
Scenes from the Picket Lines!
Check out these pics from the picket lines as our team showed our solidarity with SEIU 99 and UTLA workers all week across CD13.
And remember – when we fight, we win!!!
