“If They Strike, We Won’t Cross the Picket Line”: LA Teachers And Service Workers Unite

In These Times

Several thousand showed out for the rally which was organized by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the tenacious union representing 90% of the city’s public schools teachers, and SEIU Local 99, which represents more than 30,000 cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants and other service workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Both unions are negotiating new contracts with LAUSD. Over the last 10 months, UTLA has had more than 25 bargaining sessions with district officials, while Local 99 has been negotiating since April 2022, according to Blanca Gallegos, the union’s Communications Director.