Greater than 55,000 Los Angeles County union employees in hospitals, social companies, public well being and different county departments represented by SEIU 721 are ready to stroll off the job over alleged failures by the county to observe their labor contract, union leaders stated Tuesday.
SEIU 721 President David Inexperienced advised members at a rally Tuesday exterior the Kenneth Hahn Corridor of Administration in downtown Los Angeles that members had approved a doable strike by a 99% vote.
“This is the worst disrespect I’ve seen in my 24 years as an L.A. County employee,” Inexperienced stated.
The transfer doesn’t assure a strike, however union officers stated that if their considerations aren’t addressed, employees intend to stroll off their jobs on Oct. 10. It’s unclear how lengthy such a strike would possibly final.
L.A. County officers stated in an announcement that the county was “disappointed that labor has chosen to preemptively and unnecessarily engage in heated rhetoric, including unfounded accusations and threats of an unwarranted strike that would put our most vulnerable County residents at risk.”
A whole bunch of county employees clad in royal purple shirts flooded onto Temple Road on Tuesday for the announcement, ringing cow bells and swaying to Pitbull’s “I Believe That We Will Win.” Audio system accused the county of “playing games” with the contract and taking frontline employees without any consideration.
“The long and short of it is, there are a lot of hard-fought wins we got in our last contract,” Eloy Alvarez, a regional director for the union, advised the gang. “And L.A. County is using shady tactics to delay implementing them.”
Such a walkout may have a seismic impact on county companies: SEIU 721 represents greater than half of the county workforce, in keeping with the county’s chief govt workplace. Its members embrace nurses, social employees, librarians, clerks and a variety of different employees, and make up the overwhelming majority of county workers at essential departments dealing with social companies, elections, the county libraries and household companies.
SEIU 721 leaders stated employees had been upset concerning the county failing to observe the settlement reached with the union in 2022, a deal that expires in March 2025. Inexperienced stated there had been main discrepancies in how the county was dealing with “things that we fought for at the table,” such because the rights of union stewards.
The union contends that many elements of the labor agreements on a county web site had been inaccurate, not reflecting what was agreed to on the bargaining desk by SEIU 721. In a prolonged criticism, the union alleged that the publicly posted paperwork had been lacking various sections, together with wording that outlined some sorts of worker bonuses, and lacked a variety of anticipated edits to the language of the agreements.
County administration responded to the union considerations in an August letter, saying that not one of the obvious errors it had confirmed had resulted in any identified lack of pay or advantages for workers.
SEIU 721 stated it had lodged greater than 20 “unfair labor practice” costs over defective language within the agreements and different alleged violations reminiscent of utilizing contractors to carry out the roles of union members, together with psychiatric employees and janitorial companies, with out negotiating with the labor union.
Inexperienced stated in an interview that “when you have this rampant outsourcing and contracting out of jobs, it goes against the principles that we believe in.” Different costs revolved round alleged retaliation for union exercise, reminiscent of allegedly suspending a union steward for talking out about considerations at a gathering, SEIU 721 stated.
L.A. County stated in its assertion that it “looks forward to robust and productive bargaining sessions with our labor partners,” noting that the county was not but on the bargaining desk with SEIU 721.
“Contrary to the union’s assertions, the County has been working productively with our union partners for years to provide our valued workforce with substantial and competitive wages and benefits — and we will continue to do so,” the county assertion stated.
The county added Tuesday that it was exploring choices to reply to the “threat of an unlawful strike” and make sure that very important county companies weren’t interrupted.
SEIU 721 has staged comparable job actions earlier than. Final yr, Los Angeles metropolis employees represented by the union held a one-day strike, saying they had been protesting unfair labor practices by administration. The walkout interrupted a variety of municipal companies, together with trash assortment and the arrival of container ships on the Port of Los Angeles.
