Los Angeles – School Bus Drivers, Custodians, Special Education Assistants, Cafeteria Workers and other school workers began a series of rolling informational picket lines today calling on the Los Angeles Unified School District to improve student services by increasing staffing levels and improving wages to recruit and retain dedicated and experienced staff. The rolling informational picket lines are scheduled to continue at LAUSD schools and bus yards throughout the District through November 3.
LAUSD student services are understaffed with a predominantly part time, low-wage work force. School employees are raising concerns about how this impacts student services, including:
• Dirty schools and locked bathrooms due to low staffing levels of custodians. By LAUSD’s own admission, custodians are staffed at less than 50% of the levels necessary to maintain schools to the District’s standards of cleanliness;
• Late drop-off at school due to a severe shortage of bus drivers resulting from LAUSD’s lower wage, part-time jobs which makes it difficult to retain drivers;
• Limited resources for parents due to minimal work hours for Community Representatives who staff Parent Centers. Community Representatives are limited to 3-4 hours of work, even as school board members recognized in their “Kids First” resolution approved at the beginning the current school year that “partnering with parents” is one of the critical areas needed to improve student achievement.
“The custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, special education assistants, and others who provide important student services are leading informational picket lines because we have very real concerns about how the quality of jobs at LAUSD is impacting the quality of student services,” said Max Arias, Executive Director of SEIU Local 99.
“When it’s difficult to retain and recruit bus drivers, it means some students are late to school. When LAUSD understaffs custodians and increases workloads, it means classrooms and playgrounds are not well maintained. When workers in our Parent Centers are limited to three-four part time hours, it means parents struggle to find the resources and the training they need to help their children graduate,” added Arias. “Putting ‘Kid’s First’ means ensuring students have a full team to help them succeed.”
SEIU Local 99 school workers have been in contract negotiations with LAUSD since March to try and address these concerns. Workers are urging the District to improve the quality of student services by increasing staffing levels and increasing wages and work hours. The school district, however, has shown little movement toward reaching a resolution.
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SEIU Local 99 union members include 30,000 cafeteria workers, teacher aides, custodians, bus drivers and others providing essential student services at LAUSD schools. Nearly 50% of SEIU Local 99 members are also parents or guardians of school-aged children. 70% of SEIU 99 members are graduates of LAUSD schools and a great majority are members of the predominantly Black and Latino communities they serve.
