Was the three-day strike earlier this month by Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) two unions illegal?
An administrative judge for California’s Public Employee Relations Board may soon decide.
Last week, SEIU Local 99—the union representing LAUSD’s 30,000 cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, and special education assistants—went on strike from March 21 through March 23.
United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), the union representing 35,000 LAUSD teachers, joined the strike, halting classes for the district’s 420,000 students.
In the days leading up to the strike, LAUSD filed charges March 18 with the relations board asking it to issue an injunction to halt the strike, and alleged in a complaint that the strike was illegal because it was declared before the union completed the step-by-step process for negotiations, as required by the board.
That process requires both parties to declare that negotiations have reached an impasse, then they must enlist an independent mediator, and carry out fact-finding research. If all steps have been completed, the union may declare a strike, according to legal counsel for the relations board.
While SEIU Local completed the first two steps, its members struck before it completed the third, she told The Epoch Times.
In their charge, LAUSD said the union’s action was “a purely economic strike initiated before the union has exhausted [the board’s] mediation and fact-finding procedures; and includes the participation of employees who are essential to preventing an imminent and substantial threat to the public health or safety.”
Ross, also confirmed to The Epoch Times that the two parties were currently still in the fact-finding stage of negotiations as of March 29.
The spokesperson also said that a hearing is likely to take place in the coming months, though no timeline has been established yet.
On March 19, the district said in a statement that the relations board dismissed its injunction but ordered an expedited trial—meaning the trial proceedings will be sped up for this case—for LAUSD’s complaint against the union.
Though district and union leaders reached a tentative labor contract agreement March 24 with the help of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the agreement doesn’t address or settle LAUSD’s unfair labor practice charges.
Union leaders maintain that they had the right to strike and that LAUSD’s charges are unfounded.
“UTLA and SEIU 99 members continued to have the right to strike and did,” UTLA said in a March 27 statement. “Instead of wasting time on legal maneuvers over the last two weeks that didn’t prevent a strike, LAUSD should have been focused on resolving the issues and respecting their employees.”
The proposed contract meets SEIU Local 99’s demand for a 30 percent pay raise with bonus payments, retroactive pay, and fully paid health benefits.
The union’s members will vote on whether to approve the contract next week.
A spokesperson for SEIU Local 99 was not immediately available for comment.
