Minimum Wage at LAUSD Now Set at $15/Hour

Originally posted at 3:30 p.m. June 30, 2014. Edited with new details.

The minimum wage of nearly 20,000 Los Angeles Unified School District cafeteria workers, custodians and other school service workers will be $15 an hour under a "landmark" tentative two-year contract announced today by the Service Employees International Union, which represents the workers.

Details of the pact are expected to be released at a news conference Tuesday at LAUSD headquarters.

An LAUSD representative said district officials will comment on the agreement at the news conference.

"... The tentative contract agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District that includes a landmark minimum wage increase to $15 an hour over two years ... will lift nearly 20,000 LAUSD school workers and their families out of poverty," according to a statement from SEIU Local 99.

Local 99 executive director Courtni Pugh said: "This historic agreement showcases how labor unions and school districts can work together for the good of our entire communities."

Nearly half of the school workers represented by Local 99 have children attending school in the district, according to the union.

Another provision of the tentative pact includes the restoration of special education work hours lost in 2012, according to the union.

Local 99 members began voting on the pact today, with balloting continuing to Wednesday, according to the union. The LAUSD board is scheduled to vote on the proposed agreement during its late-afternoon meeting Tuesday.

--City News Service