Last Tuesday, SEIU Local 99 — the union representing service workers and support staff including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and teaching assistants in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) — went on strike to protest unfair labor practices by the district. United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) joined them in solidarity, shutting down schools and bringing the total number of striking workers to over sixty thousand. Picket lines and rallies lasted from Tuesday through Thursday of last week, with workers returning to schools on Friday after the planned three-day strike.

On Friday, after stonewalling the union for months and allowing members to continue working on an expired contract, the school district reached a tentative agreement with SEIU 99. The tentative agreement includes a raise of 30 percent, retroactive pay of $4,000 to $8,000, a $1,000 one-time bonus, and full health care benefits for more classes of workers, including teacher assistants, community representatives, and after-school workers. Members will vote on the tentative agreement, which would increase the average salary of SEIU 99 members from $25,000 to $33,000 per year, later this week. Members of UTLA are still in bargaining with the district.

During the strike, many SEIU 99 members told Jacobin that they work two or or three jobs to make ends meet. They find it difficult to afford living near their work — or to afford housing at all, with one in three members of SEIU 99 reporting being either homeless or at risk of being unhoused while working for LAUSD. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles is more than $2,800 a month. Nearly a quarter of SEIU members report that they have recently faced hunger.