Fear of L.A. Unified Breakup Spurs Supervisors to Unionize
Classified supervisors in Los Angeles Unified School District--the school system’s only major employee group that has not been represented by a union--have voted to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Their vote, tallied Friday, was motivated by the fear that a breakup of the school district would leave the supervisors unprotected, said Lupe Ramirez, a bus supervisor in South-Central Los Angeles.
“If the district breaks up, what happens to us?” Ramirez asked. “The day it breaks up, they could just say, ‘Bye.’ This way, they have to keep us at least until the end of the contract.”
The nearly 2,900 supervisors in the district--ranging from janitors to architects--feel particularly vulnerable, said union spokesperson Patrick Lacefield, because they are scattered in offices around the district and are often isolated from their peers.
Ballots sent in by mail during the past four weeks totaled 1,129 for union representation and 568 against.
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