More than 55,000 Los Angeles County union workers in hospitals, social services, public health and other county departments represented by SEIU 721 are prepared to walk off the job over alleged failures by the county to follow their labor contract, union leaders said Tuesday.
SEIU 721 President David Green told members at a rally Tuesday outside the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles that members had authorized a possible strike by a 99% vote.
“This is the worst disrespect I’ve seen in my 24 years as an L.A. County employee,” Green said.
The move doesn’t guarantee a strike, but union officials said that if their concerns aren’t addressed, workers intend to walk off their jobs on Oct. 10. It’s unclear how long such a strike might last.
L.A. County officials said in a statement 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.”
Hundreds of county workers clad in royal purple shirts flooded onto Temple Street on Tuesday for the announcement, ringing cow bells and swaying to Pitbull’s “I Believe That We Will Win.” Speakers accused the county of “playing games” with the contract and taking frontline workers for granted.
“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, told the crowd. “And L.A. County is using shady tactics to delay implementing them.”
Such a walkout could have a seismic effect on county services: SEIU 721 represents more than half of the county workforce, according to the county’s chief executive office. Its members include nurses, social workers, librarians, clerks and a range of other workers, and make up the vast majority of county employees at crucial departments handling social services, elections, the county libraries and family services.
SEIU 721 leaders said workers were upset about the county failing to follow the agreement reached with the union in 2022, a deal that expires in March 2025. Green said there had been major discrepancies in how the county was handling “things that we fought for at the table,” such as the rights of union stewards.
The union contends that many parts of the labor agreements on a county website were inaccurate, not reflecting what was agreed to at the bargaining table by SEIU 721. In a lengthy complaint, the union alleged that the publicly posted documents were missing a number of sections, including wording that outlined some kinds of employee bonuses, and lacked a range of anticipated edits to the language of the agreements.
County management responded to the union concerns in an August letter, saying that none of the apparent errors it had confirmed had resulted in any known loss of pay or benefits for employees.
SEIU 721 said it had lodged more than 20 “unfair labor practice” charges over faulty language in the agreements and other alleged violations such as using contractors to perform the jobs of union members, including psychiatric workers and janitorial services, without negotiating with the labor union.
Green said in an interview that “when you have this rampant outsourcing and contracting out of jobs, it goes against the principles that we believe in.” Other charges revolved around alleged retaliation for union activity, such as allegedly suspending a union steward for speaking out about concerns at a meeting, SEIU 721 said.
L.A. County said in its statement that it “looks forward to robust and productive bargaining sessions with our labor partners,” noting that the county was not yet at the bargaining table 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 statement said.
The county added Tuesday that it was exploring options to respond to the “threat of an unlawful strike” and ensure that vital county services were not interrupted.
SEIU 721 has staged similar job actions before. Last year, Los Angeles city workers represented by the union held a one-day strike, saying they were protesting unfair labor practices by management. The walkout interrupted a range of municipal services, including trash collection and the arrival of container ships at the Port of Los Angeles.
