The Latest: Tens of thousands of Los Angeles teachers strike
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on a strike by Los Angeles teachers (all times local):
7:40 a.m.
Tens of thousands of Los Angeles teachers are striking after contentious contract negotiations failed in the nation’s second-largest school district.
Members of United Teachers Los Angeles voted last year to walk off the job for the first time in 30 years if a deal wasn’t reached on issues including higher wages and smaller class sizes. The strike began Monday.
Months of talks between the union and Los Angeles Unified School District ended without a deal.
Schools will stay open. The district has hired hundreds of substitutes to replace teachers and others who leave for picket lines.
The district says the union’s demands could bankrupt the school system. It’s projecting a half-billion-dollar deficit this budget year and has billions obligated for pension payments and health coverage for retired teachers.
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9:31 p.m.
Tens of thousands of Los Angeles teachers are planning to strike Monday.
The teachers’ union rejected an offer Friday from the LA Unified School District, calling the proposal “woefully inadequate.”
The district proposed a 6 percent salary increase over the first two years of a three-year contract.
The United Teachers Los Angeles says it wants a 6.5 percent hike that would take effect all at once and be retroactive to fiscal 2017.
With no new talks scheduled, pickets are likely to begin at 7 a.m.
Schools will remain open. The district has hired substitutes to replace staffers who leave schools for picket lines.
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