[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he Los Angeles school district and teachers union lobbed accusations at one another this week as Mayor Eric Garcetti inserted himself into the fray, further ratcheting up tensions in the middle of the union’s strike authorization vote. If approved, L.A. Unified could see its first teachers strike in 30 years.
The Los Angeles Unified School District on Tuesday filed a complaint against the Los Angeles Teachers Union with the California’s Public Employment Relations Board for “bad faith” bargaining, accusing the union of a “take-it-or-leave it” style of negotiating and for "almost never compromising."
“UTLA openly talked about a strike long before the parties even began negotiations, let alone reached impasse,” the district’s lawyer, David Holmquist, said in a statement. “It is now conducting a strike vote even though the parties have not even held their first mediation session.”