Massive Teachers Union Plans Boycott Until They Get A Pay Raise
Reagan Reese on April 13, 2023
Teachers of the second largest school district in the country are planning to boycott faculty meetings until they reach a contract negotiation that includes a pay raise, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
Members of the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the union of 35,000 teachers, are not attending Los Angeles Unified School District’s after-school faculty meetings until they receive a contract that includes a 20% pay raise over time, smaller class sizes and more funding for student mental health services, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. The boycott comes after the UTLA went on strike for three days, cancelling classes for more than 400,000 students, to push for a new contract for the Service Employees International Union Local 99 (SEIU), which represents 30,000 support workers.
“We’ve been building a lot of momentum for our contract campaign, but unfortunately our bargaining is still at a standstill in many ways,” Ryan Andrews, a chapter vice-chair of UTLA, told the outlet. “The district has moved on some issues, but in terms of salary and class size demands, we need them to come a lot closer. It’s clear we need to keep up this fight, so that’s why we decided to boycott the faculty meetings.”
UTLA is arguing that the school district has $5.12 billion in reserves to use for bargaining that it is not utilizing, according to a union information sheet. The union is planning to continue the boycott of faculty meetings until June unless an agreement is met beforehand.
What do we do when the district won’t stop committing unfair labor practices? Stand together!
UTLA members across the district are boycotting unproductive faculty meetings to demand respect and for the district to bargain in good faith. ✊ pic.twitter.com/yLcOu8LDGL
— United Teachers Los Angeles (@UTLAnow) April 12, 2023
At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, UTLA voted to boycott four “optional” instruction days meant to combat the learning loss students suffered while being remote during the COVID-19 pandemic, ABC 7 News reported. In fourth grade reading, Los Angeles Unified School District is scoring a 207, 31 points below the proficiency rate and 10 points below the national average.
“We share our teachers’ desire to quickly finalize a fair contract between UTLA and the district, but we are exhausted by the frequent strikes, boycotts and the aggressive nature of UTLA towards the district and our superintendent,” LA Parent Union, an organization for parents within the district, told the outlet.
UTLA and Los Angeles Unified School District did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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