LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Latest on a strike authorization vote by Los Angeles teachers (all times local):
6 p.m.
Teachers in the huge Los Angeles Unified School District have voted to authorize a strike if labor negotiations continue to stall.
United Teachers Los Angeles announced Friday that an overwhelming 98 percent of members who voted favored giving the union the authority to call a strike.
The vote comes amid a stalemate in lengthy contract talks with the nation’s second-largest school district.
UTLA says the vote doesn’t necessarily mean a strike will happen. But teachers are ready to hit the picket lines if the union and school district fail to reach an agreement that addresses teachers’ demands on pay raises, smaller class sizes and other issues.
The district says a strike will hurt students and families and it hopes to reach an agreement to avoid a walkout.
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2:43 p.m.
The union representing teachers in the huge Los Angeles Unified School District is counting ballots cast in a strike-authorization vote.
If approved in Friday’s count, the authorization would give leadership of United Teachers Los Angeles permission to call a strike.
The vote comes amid a stalemate in lengthy contract talks with the nation’s second-largest school district.
UTLA says that if the strike is authorized, teachers will hit the picket lines unless the union and school district reach an agreement that addresses teachers’ demands on pay raise, smaller class sizes and others.
Teachers around the nation have been pursuing better contracts with walkouts and protests. The movement started earlier this year in West Virginia, where a strike resulted in a raise, and spread to Oklahoma, Kentucky, Colorado, Arizona and Washington state.
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