School district employees in Austin, Texas, ask for $21 wage

AUSTIN, Texas — Several Austin school district bus drivers, cafeteria workers and custodians asked trustees Monday night for better pay, saying they cannot afford to live in Austin on the hourly wages they are paid.

The group from Southwest Workers’ Union said they keep the schools clean, transport schoolchildren safely and feed them nutritious meals, but struggle to pay for rent and other basic necessities.

The group asked for hourly wages of $21 an hour, or about $42,000 annually for a full-time employee.

Juan Barrientos, who has been a custodian at Lanier High School for 10 years, earns $11.54 — not enough to be a living wage, he said.

“We deserve the right to work and sustain ourselves to provide for our families,” said Chavel Lopez, an organizer with the group. “The cost of living has sky rocketed. We cannot continue to pay for gasoline, food, utilities, rent, clothing and child care with the poverty wages the Austin Independent School District pays us.”

Lopez said the group is fighting to be on a similar step system as teachers, which rewards them for years of service and seniority.

The school board is considering a preliminary $1.1 billion budget, which would include a 1.5 percent across-the-board salary increase for all full-and-part-time employees, as well as another 1.5 percent for teachers, librarians and counselors with five or more years experience. The Southwest Workers’ Union said the district should scrap that plan.