LA schools avert strike with last-minute deal

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) avoided a strike that would have disrupted classes for nearly 400,000 students after reaching a last-minute agreement with its third major union early Tuesday, April 14, 2026, officials said.

The agreement was reached at about 2 a.m. Pacific time following extended talks with Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) , which represents roughly 30,000 school support employees. The bargaining unit includes roles such as bus drivers, custodians, and cafeteria workers, according to the parties involved.

The late-night deal followed separate agreements reached on Sunday with two other major LAUSD unions representing teachers and administrators. Those groups had said they would join a solidarity strike if a settlement with SEIU Local 99 was not secured, raising the risk of a broad shutdown across the district.

Officials said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass intervened during the negotiations, helping move the talks toward a resolution. District and union representatives said they are still working to finalize the remaining details of the agreement, indicating that the settlement is tentative while documentation and implementation steps are completed.

The avoided walkout would have been the largest labor action in a wider sequence of coordinated efforts by the California Teachers Association to press state and local officials across multiple school districts. In recent months, teacher strikes have taken place in San Francisco , Richmond , Dublin , and in two Sacramento school districts , according to the account provided.

LAUSD’s earlier tentative agreement with United Teachers Los Angeles included raising starting teacher pay to $77,000 and providing an average pay increase of nearly 14% over two years for all teachers. A separate deal with the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles/Teamsters 2010 included a raise of more than 11% over two years, officials said.

While the immediate disruption was avoided, the parties said the next steps involve finalizing the terms and confirming how the agreement will be carried out across the district’s operations. Until those details are completed, some elements of timing and implementation remain uncertain, even as schools continue operating under the newly reached framework.