With labor talks at a standstill and no new negotiations scheduled, Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will be closed Tuesday, leaving more than 400,000 students without classes as service workers strike to demand improved wages and working conditions.
The 30,000 workers represented by the Service Employees International Union Local 99 -- including cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants and others -- are set to begin picketing at 4:30 a.m. The roughly 30,000 members of the powerful teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, will honor the picket line.
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at a late-afternoon news conference Monday that he had hoped on Monday to have "a transparent, honest conversation" that might result in an agreement to stave off the planned three- day strike, but it never happened.
"We were never in the same room, or even in the same building," he said.
Carvalho said he was still holding out hope that some talks can be held overnight or Tuesday, potentially reaching a deal that will prevent the work stoppage from continuing for the entire three days. In the meantime, the district does plan to offer food distribution for families on Tuesday morning, from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at designated sites. Information is available on the district's website at https://achieve.lausd.net/schoolupdates.