Los Angeles Unified School District leaders and union negotiators spent Monday trying to keep the nation’s second-largest school system from shutting down, but by midday it was still unclear whether classrooms would be open Tuesday. Two of the three unions in the dispute announced settlements on Sunday, leaving SEIU Local 99 as the holdout and keeping the prospect of a lausd strike 2026 alive for 390,000 students and about 70,000 workers.
The Board of Education met in closed session at 10 a.m. at district headquarters west of downtown Los Angeles, with Conference with Labor Negotiators at the top of the agenda. Negotiators had already taken a break Monday morning after a Sunday mediation session that ran from about 10 a.m. until about 9:30 p.m., and Local 99 was due back in mediation Monday afternoon.
The immediate stakes are enormous. United Teachers Los Angeles and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles/Teamsters 2010 both announced tentative agreements on Sunday, easing pressure on a system that had been bracing for a walkout by teachers, aides, principals and other employees. UTLA represents about 37,000 teachers, nurses, counselors, psychologists and librarians, while AALA represents about 3,000 principals and assistant principals.
SEIU Local 99 represents about 30,000 teacher aides, campus aides, gardeners, custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and tech support staff. The union’s leader, Max Arias, said, “We continue to be open to the mediation process with the school district.” He added that, “Just as we work together every day in our classrooms and campuses, we are proud to be united with teachers and principals in the fight for our schools, students, and communities.”
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The strike threat is not a routine contract fight. The walkout has been defined as an unfair-practice strike tied to alleged district violations of legally protected organizing rights, and Local 99’s version would be open-ended if it happens. All three unions had pledged to strike if any one of them failed to win a tentative agreement, which is why Sunday’s twin settlements did not fully remove the danger from Tuesday.
That leaves families with decisions they hoped to avoid. Parents of 390,000 students still had to make contingency plans on Monday, while workers across the district did not know whether they would report to their jobs or stand on a picket line the next day. District union groups were also discussing school police, clerical workers, and custodial and cafeteria supervisors for possible emergency tasks or support if a shutdown goes ahead.
Arias said the district could still avoid a strike if it changed course. “LAUSD can avert a strike by ending the harassment and retaliation against SEIU Local 99 workers and presenting proposals that ensure equity and fairness for everyone who contributes to student learning,” he said. If the district and Local 99 reach a deal, Tuesday stays normal; if they do not, Los Angeles wakes up to an open-ended strike that can shut the district down before school starts.
