For many L.A. Unified workers who are on strike, the crux of the fight is the ability to live decently in L.A., where the cost of housing exerts a brutal burden.
California workers from fast food to school staff are demanding better wages and benefits through legislation backed by unions.
Henry Argueta, 68, has worked for the district as a special education assistant since 2008. He is among the staffers who managed to secure a unit in one of the district’s affordable housing projects in Hollywood. Before that, he rented a small studio in Pico-Union that had been converted from a motel room.
“I am very lucky to pay what I’m paying right now,” said special education assistant Henry Argueta of his $1,300-a-month rent. But “it’s still not that affordable.” His commute is 90 miles each way. He wakes up long before dawn and drives for Uber on his way to San Pedro, in order to help pay his mortgage and other bills.Martinez was in her 20s, working as a waitress and going to college, unsure about what she would do with her life, when a friend asked whether she would be interested in working at a school with kids with disabilities. She started as a volunteer and quickly fell in love with the job, she said.
The three-day strike that has closed L.A. schools means many of the district’s lowest-paid workers will lose three days of wages while on the picket line. Many say it’s worth it. On Wednesday morning, as Martinez and Hernandez got ready for another day of picketing, the thought of the income they were losing to the three-day strike weighed heavily on them. Soon, they would have to pay rent again.A 30% raise would boost her salary to more than $41,000 a year. With that, she figured, she would be able to move.
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