Long Beach Unified's Classified Workers Threaten Strike After Contract Talks Break Down
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — Employees with the Long Beach Unified School District are threatening to go on strike after labor negotiations broke down.
Dozens of workers protested Wednesday after the contract talks broke down. Employees say their salary hasn't gone up since 2018.
District officials say they offered the union -- which represents more than 2,500 classified employees – a competitive package in line with what was offered to teachers last year.
"That included a 5% raise, that 5% raise was declined," district spokeswoman David Zaid said. "We believe that that was a fair amount."
The California Schools Employees Association want a 7% pay raise and $2,200 in hazard pay.
"The money's there, but help us. We're in a bad economy right now, we need to be able to survive here," said Gilbert Bonilla, Jr. of the CSEA.
