SEIU Local 99 reached a tentative deal with LAUSD last Friday after a three-day walk out closed campuses in the nation’s second largest school district.

LA Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho sat down with “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen to discuss how the deal was reached and the impact it will have on union members.

What You Need To Know

  • SEIU Local 99 reached a deal with LAUSD to increase wages by 30% and give pandemic workers a $1,000 bonus

  • The agreement increased minimum wage to $22.52 and will give employees who work four hours a day free health care 

  • Mayor Karen Bass helped LAUSD and SEIU Local 99 leaders come together to reach an agreement

  • The tentative agreement will be voted on next week by the LAUSD board and the entire union

“What happened was actually a very honest, transparent meeting of the minds, with open minds and open hearts, recognizing that SEIU employees are indispensable to what we do in schools," Carvalho said. "They are the backbone of our workforce. I mean, these are the individuals that drive our kids and protect our kids and feed our kids."

The agreement includes a 30% wage increase for the district’s bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants, cafeteria workers and other support staff. Employees will receive free health care if they work at least four hours a day, and an additional $1,000 bonus will be given to union members who were working at the beginning of the pandemic.

Carvalho explained that the agreement was especially close to his heart since his father previously worked as a custodian. Carvalho also worked several low-paying SEUI-type jobs and experienced homelessness when he first emigrated from Portugal to the U.S. as a young adult. 

“I had the struggle, the journey, and quite frankly, the full recognition that economic conditions in this community should not allow for anyone to make $25,000 a year and survive,” he said.

The agreement increased minimum wage to $22.52 and includes the creation of a $3 million education and professional development fund for SEIU Local 99 union members.

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Carvalho noted he’s proud of what they were able to accomplish with this deal.

"We need to compensate people adequately," he said. "This is a historic contract. No one in this union is getting less than something that is two to three times what anyone else across the country would be getting at this point. Secondly, I promised the community that we would meet and exceed inflation. We did that."

The tentative agreement will be voted on next week by the LAUSD board and the entire union.

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