A late-night labor deal averts LAUSD strike and keeps schools open. Here are the details

Los Angeles Unified support staff reached a labor deal with the district early Tuesday morning, hours before a strike was set to begin — meaning schools will remain open for nearly 400,000 students.

"The tentative agreement makes strides in addressing key issues raised by school workers in negotiations," SEIU Local 99 said in a statement Tuesday morning.

The district had previously reached new deals with its teachers union and its principals union over the weekend.

”Our commitments reflect the dedication of our entire workforce. We are grateful for the collaboration that made this possible and hopeful that this marks a new chapter of partnership," Andrés Chait, the acting superintendent, said in a statement Tuesday morning. "At the same time, we are clear-eyed about the challenges ahead and know that meeting them will require continued trust, shared responsibility, and a united focus on what matters most — our students."

How did the deal come together?

The unions had given the district an April 14 deadline to reach a deal, or face a walkout. A strike by all three would have shut down district schools and disrupted the education of hundreds of thousands of students and the lives of families scrambling for child care.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass joined the negotiations with SEIU Local 99, which continued late Monday night. The deal was announced at 2 a.m. Tuesday.

 ”Over the last 24 hours, we've experienced a lot of lows, exhaustion," said Yolanda Mims-Reed, a special education assistant and member of SEIU Local 99’s bargaining team. “We have not given up. We would not leave anyone behind.  We experienced push, drive, and finally victory.”

The unions had been bargaining with the district over pay, benefits and additional support for students for more than a year. The members of each union voted overwhelmingly to give their leaders the power to call a strike after contract talks stalled.

What are the deals? 

District, union and city leaders held a press conference Tuesday morning in City Hall, just across the street from where the strike date was announced about a month earlier.

SEIU Local 99

• 30,000 members include: bus drivers, cafeteria workers, classroom and campus aides
• Contract expired: June 30, 2024
• Deal reached: Tuesday, April 14, 2026
• Approximate annual cost upon full implementation, per LAUSD: $490 million

The union’s proposals included: 

• A 30% wage increase over three years. 
• More hours for workers who don’t have enough to qualify for benefits.

The tentative deal includes: 

• A 24% wage increase
• Increased work hours, which will result in health care coverage for more members and their families
• Rescinding layoff notices for about 200 information technology positions
• The expansion of healthcare benefits to more employee groups, including teacher assistants and afterschool workers

Mims-Reed said expanding members' hours will bring students much-needed support.

“ It's never, ever only about the money,” Mims-Reed said. “We abandon our kids at the end of the day because we do not have the hours to remain on campus and stay with them, and that breaks our heart.”

Now she expects that to change.

About one in five of the union's workers are full time and make an average of $57,000; part-time workers average about $30,000, according to data provided by the union. Many are LAUSD parents and Black and Latina women. Arias estimated the new deal will bring the overall average wage up to about $43,000.

“ We're hopeful that we can start working toward not having workers live in poverty and making sure that we have robust staffing to be able to care for our students, and that we finally achieve clean, safe, supportive schools for all,” Executive Director Max Arias said.

Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA)

• 3,000 members include: principals, directors and other administrators
• Contract expired: June 30, 2025
• Deal reached: Sunday, April 12, 2026
• Approximate annual cost upon full implementation, per LAUSD: $75 million

The union’s proposals included: 

• A 12.5% wage increase.
• The ability to use flex time more easily.

The final deal includes:

• A 12.15% wage increase
• A defined eight-hour workday and a 40-hour workweek 
• Flex time with notice and no pre-approval
• Read more.

AALA President Maria Nichols acknowledged the union was the “new kid on the block” when it came to negotiations. The administrators affiliated with the Teamsters in 2024.

In addition to the salary gains, Nichols highlighted the new “defined, reasonable workday.”

“We know that we work more than that,” Nichols said, noting the weekend events and afterschool performances and games principals often attend. “But we also have the flexibility as professionals to use our own judgment … to get the work done but still have some flexibilities within our schedule.

United Teachers Los Angeles

• 35,000 members include: teachers, psychologists and counselors
• Contract expired: June 30, 2025
• Deal reached: Sunday, April 12, 2026
• Approximate annual cost upon full implementation, per LAUSD: $650 million

The union’s proposals included: 

• A 17% raise over two years. 
• A minimum starting teacher salary of nearly $78,000 — a 13% increase. 
• Changes to the salary schedule so that newer teachers who complete professional development can earn increases more quickly.
• Reducing class sizes and adding more mental health support for students. 
• Learn more. 

The final deal includes: 

• An increase in salary scales by 11.65%. UTLA says the average member will see an average increase of nearly 14%
• A new-teacher salary of $77,000 per year
• Four weeks of district-paid parental leave
• Expanded student mental health supports
• A first-ever 20:1 ratio for special education specialist teachers

“ Teachers will now earn salaries that better reflect the true cost of living in communities that they serve,” Myart-Cruz said.

UTLA’s bargaining team met with the district more than a dozen times since negotiations began last February. The union declared an impasse in December, a legal step that triggered a “fact finding” intervention from a neutral mediator appointed by the state’s labor relations board.

How much do the deals cost? 

The ongoing annual cost of the three labor agreements, once fully implemented, is approximately $1.2 billion, according to a Los Angeles Unified spokesperson.

Chait said Tuesday that the agreements “ in some cases will call on us as a leadership team to find resources.”

Chait gave two examples of how the district might do that. One, through a “a laser-like focus” on the district's current spending, including on third-party contractors.

“We also want to be collectively fierce advocates to Sacramento for the funding that our students frankly deserve and need,” Chait said.

State funding comprises the vast majority of local school funding, and this year’s state revenue projection is higher than expected, in part because of high salaries tied to artificial intelligence.

Gov. Gavin Newsom will release an update about the state’s budget, including for public education, in May.

Whether or not the district could afford the union’s proposal was a matter of debate even for the fact-finding chair, Donald Raczka.

“Due to the complexity of LAUSD’s budget, thoroughly examining these claims would be time consuming and labor intensive — tasks that go beyond the chair’s current capacity given the available information,” Raczka wrote.

The union contended that such an analysis was the fact finder’s key responsibility.

“The failure of the fact finder to even attempt to figure out the finances is a disservice to the educators and students of LAUSD and to the fact-finding process itself,” wrote Brian McNamara, a UTLA director and fact-finding panelist in a lengthy dissent.

In a statement, the district said it “appreciates the report’s balanced, fiscally responsible framework.”

How did Mayor Bass get involved? 

Mayor Karen Bass joined the district’s mediation session with SEIU Local 99 on Monday.

“ I stepped into negotiations to make sure that every effort was made to find an agreement to reach a compromise,” Bass said. “Because a strike would disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids and their parents who need childcare, need to go to school and need to go to work.”

Bass is also the grandparent of an LAUSD student.

“[My]  daughter was very happy to hear that my grandson was going to school today,” she said.

The Mayor’s Office has no direct jurisdiction over the district. Bass also helped break a negotiating impasse during a 2023 strike that closed schools for three days.

What happens now? 

The district called the deal with SEIU Local 99 an “agreement in principle.” Arias said the economic proposals are secured, but the union and the district still need to hammer out the final details of the contract.

The agreements with UTLA and AALA are more finalized.

The so-called “tentative agreements” would then go before union members and the LAUSD Board for a ratification vote.

Typically, the unions do not present their members with an agreement that they don’t believe will be approved.

The district and unions are also scheduled to be back at the bargaining table within the next year because negotiations stretched so long beyond the contracts’ expiration. For example, SEIU Local 99’s newly won contract will expire in June 2027.

“My hope is that this presents a new day of opportunity for partnership and collaboration going forward,” Chait said.