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About 55,000 LA County workers left their jobs Monday night, disrupting public services to libraries and parks from healthcare and social work.
The SEIU Local 721 leader said the two-day strike will begin at 7pm on Monday, sparking what the county characterized as having been significantly unable to negotiate a new contract.
“Obviously they thought they were beyond the law. They thought we would never attack,” Union Head’s David Green said in a statement. “I thought they were wrong.”
The union said it was the first time all members have left their jobs.
The strike is set to last until 7pm on Wednesday, touching almost every county department. Hospitals will remain open, but libraries and some healthcare clinics will be closed. Cleaning up wildfire debris can be suspended. The Management Hall of Fame public service counter may be closed.
Union leaders said the driving force behind the strike was a series of charges of 44 labor law violations allegedly committed by the county. The union’s contract expired at the end of March.
The union has also expressed anger at what is described as an insultingly low-wage offer. The county initially said it could not afford to raise this year due to the costs of wildfires, massive sexual abuse settlements and losses in federal grants. LA County CEO Fesia Davenport said the union’s initial pay proposal could have cost the county billions of dollars.
Davenport said county officials have “moved” Zero Raise offers in recent weeks but are cautious about what they can offer.
“We don’t want to negotiate ourselves with a structural deficit,” Davenport said in an interview Monday. “We want to keep the line.”
Otherwise, she said the county might have to cut down the road and cut out the location, similar to what Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass proposed. Last week, Bass announced a budget proposal that includes 1,650 layoffs, helping to close the deficit of around $100 million with employee-agreed pay raises in the city.
Davenport also stressed that he wanted to protect the county’s credit rating. According to a release from the Credit Rating Agency, the county maintained its AAA rating from the S&P global rating from the looming $4 billion sexual abuse settlement, a “manageable debt burden” and a deep tax base. Meanwhile, S&P recently downgraded the city of LA due to “weak financial position and new structural imbalances.”
The strike comes when other unions begin publicly denounce the LA County Board of Supervisors for offers made at the negotiation table. The coalition of unions representing the county’s first responders revealed wage bumps last week, claiming that the efforts of members during the unprecedented January wildfires were not properly rewarded at the negotiation table.
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