So, like, tons of Los Angeles County workers decided to ditch their jobs and hit up some picket lines on Tuesday. Their union, SEIU Local 721, was all like, “Yo, the county totally blew it when it came to bargaining for a new contract.” Around 55,000 workers, including social workers, nurses, clerical staff, and other public employees, kicked off a two-day strike on Monday night. This is the first time ever that all the union peeps have joined forces for a strike in the county’s history.
As a result, libraries, nonurgent health clinics, and parks are closed. Public service counters are moving at a snail’s pace. And don’t be shocked if wildfire debris clearance takes a little break.
A bunch of workers sporting SEIU Local 721’s royal purple tees rolled up to the county Hall of Administration in downtown L.A. on Tuesday for a rally to kick off the first full day of the strike. Mike Long, the union’s spokesperson, spilled the tea that 14 members got arrested for not scattering at a march after the rally. He was all like, “We gotta show them how serious this is.”
The union leaders claim that the county committed like 44 labor law violations, including getting back at workers and giving jobs to non-union folks. On top of that, the pay offered by the county was straight-up insulting. County officials were all, “Sorry, but we can’t give you big raises ’cause we’re broke.”
L.A. County Chief Executive Fesia Davenport mentioned that they finally moved away from offering a big fat zero in raises recently. But they’re still being super cautious about what they can offer. They’re all about not digging themselves into a financial hole.
The county is now throwing out a $5,000 bonus in the first year of the contract, along with a cost-of-living adjustment and another bonus. They claim it’s a fair deal, considering all the money troubles they’re dealing with.
Steve Koffroth, the bigwig negotiator for SEIU, spilled the beans that the county took forever to respond to the union’s first contract proposal. The old contract expired back in March, and they were dragging their feet.
Union members are ticked off that the county is spending a ton of cash on outside workers instead of hiring peeps in-house. They found out that the county was shelling out billions to private firms, which they called a total waste of taxpayer money.
The county brushed off the claims as a negotiation tactic and said the report was full of lies. Union members are peeved that healthcare positions are being filled with pricey contract workers instead of hiring permanent staff. It’s a total mess.
Theresa Velasco, a member of the union’s executive board, shared her frustration about highly paid contractors taking over healthcare roles temporarily. She works at Rancho Los Amigos, the county rehab hospital, and she’s not too happy about the situation.
So, yeah, the county and the union are at each other’s throats, and it doesn’t look like they’re gonna kiss and make up anytime soon. The workers are standing their ground, and the county is trying to avoid going broke. It’s a classic case of he said, she said, and no one is backing down. Let’s see how this all plays out in the end.
