LA schools shut as workers launch three-day strike

STORY: Members of the Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents school bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and classroom assistants, formed picket lines and marched outside of school buildings across the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Tuesday morning, demanding higher wages and smaller classroom sizes.

Hundreds rallied in front of the LAUSD headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

"As teachers, we spend a lot of time with the support staff," said Findley Bunting, who teaches Special Ed at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles. "They're just magnificent. They work their asses off and they've been starving. They've been underpaid for years. And this has been, these negotiations have gone on a year without any progress. It's a typical LAUSD thing. They can't get off their butts and negotiate and get this done."

The superintendent of the second largest school district in the United States acknowledged workers had been underpaid for years and said he was committed to reaching a deal.

The walkout, expected to last through Thursday (March 23), began after last-minute negotiations broke down on Monday, forcing school officials to cancel classes for 420,000 students.