Nation’s second-largest school district poised to be shut down by worker strike

Unions representing workers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest, vowed to walk off the job Tuesday for a three-day strike that would idle an estimated 460,000 students.

California state officials mediated talks between the school district and union representatives late into the evening Monday, but the union said the negotiations would not avert the strike.

“The strike will begin at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 21, and continue through Thursday, March 23,” a statement from Local 99 of Service Employees International Union, which is leading the labor action, said in a statement.

Union officials alleged misconduct by the school system to infringe the rights of workers to engage in legally protected union-related activities.

“During the strike vote and contract bargaining process, the district subjected workers to surveillance, intimidation and harassment,” the union alleged.

During a news conference last week, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the strike will make it "virtually impossible to keep schools open."