Students that attend the Los Angeles County School district are looking at a three-day vacation from school due to an upcoming strike from the school workers union and the district’s teacher union. The last time this happened was in 2019, when teachers went on a 6-day strike, where they yearned for smaller class sizes, more school staffing, and higher wages. This year the workers are demanding that they receive a raise in their salaries, more full-time work, better treatment, and an increase in staff levels, which would allow for improved student services. These are the kinds of consequences as focus and funding for education start to become less critical. 

This is not only happening in the Los Angeles Unified School District; many assurances like these have taken place in communities all across the nation. For example, in Seattle, Minneapolis, and Columbus, Ohio, teachers and school workers have gone on strike demanding solutions to their poor working conditions. Who is to say that this won’t spread to local schools and cause a statewide issue with the education system in California? 

The root cause of this issue most certainly does not come from the workers that are going on strike. They are being forced to work in poor conditions, and they can only do it for so long before they have to speak up and defend themselves. The union has been speaking about plans to go on strike since April of 2022. It was only in February that about 96% of the workers in the association agreed to go on strike. 

Update: 

Tuesday, March 21, 2023, schools were shut down for over half a million students that attend a school that classifies as a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. The association, which is called The Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union, went on strike with about 30,000 participants. These participants would include people who work in schools, like, special education assistants, bus drivers, custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, teacher’s aides, and other support staff. 

The members that are a part of Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union were not the only ones participating. During the rallies that had been going on, the Leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles came to an agreement with the other union, also requesting that they be treated fairly and increased wages. 

Though these walkouts mean the possibility of a fair battle for the workers of these schools, they also mean time away from the school for the kids, which could have poor results in the future. The teachers still fighting for their rights are worried about the consequences that could come with leaving the students without education in the future.