—PRESS RELEASE—
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 14, 2016
CONTACT:
Blanca Gallegos 213-500-9594 bgallegos@seiu99.org
Terry Carter 213-700-5617 tcarter@seiu99.org
As school workers applaud Governor for signing justice for farmworkers into law, they urge him to sign AB 2197
LOS ANGELES, CA—California’s classified school workers—the lunch ladies, classroom assistants, custodians, bus drivers and others who keep children healthy, safe and learning—welcome the Governor’s ongoing work to bring fairness to those who toil long hours in the sun to put food on our tables by signing AB 1066, which will grant farmworkers the same rights to overtime pay enjoyed by other California workers.
“The Governor understands that it’s fundamentally unfair to single out one group of workers and deny them a very basic right of all other workers. We applaud the signing of AB 1066,” said said Max Arias, Executive Director of SEIU Local 99, a union representing nearly than 40,000 classified school workers.
Farmworkers, along with other seasonal workers like Hollywood writers, sports stadium employees and retail employees, are also eligible to apply for unemployment insurance while they look for alternative employment during their “off” seasons.
School workers—many of whom fall into the category of “the working poor”— are the only seasonal workers locked out of the state’s unemployment insurance safety net. They urge Governor Brown to bring justice to the dilemma they face every summer.
“My family lives on the edge every summer,” says Los Angeles Unified School District Special Education Assistant Esmeralda Torres. “And I wonder every year if I can afford to stay at the job I love. In the summer, I apply at all the local restaurants and shops—no one wants to hire me for such a short time. We borrow money and try to hang on to our home until September.”
Schools’ certified employees—the principals, teachers, librarians and nurses—earn middle class incomes and benefits that can last through the summer recess. However, schools’ classified workers struggle to support their families with incomes that just don’t pay enough to cover food, housing and health care. Too often, they rely on food stamps and other forms of public assistance. Even worse, they lose homes and cars as they default on payments that simply can’t be paid when there’s no paycheck. Many are trapped in an endless cycle of debt that they are never able to escape.
In 2014, The Economic Roundtable released a report on the impossible economic hardship California’s dedicated school workers face every summer. The study showed that extending unemployment insurance to education workers each summer will benefit over 80,000 struggling families and bring $187.3 million in additional wealth to California.
“Nearly half of the classified employees working in the Los Angeles Unified School District—the largest school district in California—are parents. Working at their neighborhood school—often the one their children attend—is not just a job. They’ve committed their lives to creating safe, happy, and supportive learning environments. We must ensure that their dedication is not penalized with an endless cycle of debt and poverty,” said Arias. “School jobs need to be good jobs. We must improve wages, increase full time work, expand summer school and ensure school workers have access to unemployment benefits when they need them.”
###
SEIU Local 99 represents employees throughout Southern California in public and non-public organizations in early education, child care, K-12, and community college levels, including nearly 30,000 Teacher’s Assistants, Playground Workers, Special Education Assistants, Bus Drivers, Gardeners, Custodians, Cafeteria Workers, and Maintenance Workers at LAUSD. Nearly half of SEIU Local 99 members are also parents or guardians of school-aged children.
