LOS ANGELES—More than 400,000 students in the L.A. Unified School District (LAUSD) returned to classes March 24 following a three-day strike by service workers that shuttered the nation’s second-largest school system and culminated in a massive labor rally at Los Angeles State Historic Park.

No new contract came out of the three-day walkout by members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99—but district officials issued a statement Friday saying talks were continuing.

“As students and employees return to schools today, Los Angeles Unified officials continue to be in conversation with SEIU Local 99 leaders,” according to the district. “We remain hopeful that we will reach an equitable agreement that recognizes the hard work of our employees and maintains the financial stability of the district.

“We know that our students, families, and employees are counting on us to reach a resolution.”

Mayor Karen Bass has been facilitating discussions between the sides, but it remained unclear if the talks were materializing into actual contract negotiations.

Nevertheless, it was back to school on Friday, as the union confirmed Wednesday night it would hold to its three-day strike strategy.

“Welcome back to school,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho wrote on Twitter Friday morning. “It’s a great day of instruction and learning.”

With students missing three days of school during the strike, the district on Friday extended the registration deadline for its next round of “Acceleration Days,” which are extra days of instruction originally implemented to provide students a chance to catch up on learning loss that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic campus shutdowns.

The registration deadline for students is now March 29, with the Acceleration Days set for April 3–4, during the district’s spring break.

The SEIU, which represents roughly 30,000 LAUSD service workers, walked off the job Tuesday amid stalled labor talks focused primarily on the union’s demand for a 30 percent salary boost.

The service workers—including cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, special education assistants, and others—were joined in their walkout by about 30,000 members of the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) union, which is engaged in labor talks of its own with the district, seeking a 20 percent pay hike for its members.

All those workers stayed off the job through Thursday—when the SEIU strike climaxed with tens of thousands of union members and supporters descending on Los Angeles State Historic Park in a boisterous display of solidarity.

Meanwhile, according to Bass’s office, the mayor “will continue to work privately with all parties to reach an agreement to reopen the schools and guarantee fair treatment of all LAUSD workers.”

On Monday, Carvalho said the district sweetened the offer to an overall 23 percent salary increase, along with a 3 percent “cash-in-hand bonus.”

The union, however, has been pushing for a 30 percent pay raise, with an additional boost for the lowest-paid workers.

In addition to salary demands, union officials have also alleged staffing shortages caused by an “over-reliance on a low-wage, part-time workforce.”

The unions have repeatedly said the district is sitting on a projected $4.9 billion reserve fund for 2022–23 that should be invested in workers and efforts to improve education through reduced class sizes and full staffing of all campuses. But Carvalho has disputed that figure, saying no such reserve exists.

He has also said that most of the district’s reserve funds are federal dollars restricted for student programs or other one-time funds that cannot be used to increase salaries.

The strike is the first major labor disruption for the district since UTLA teachers went on strike for six days in 2019.

Sophie Li contributed to this report.