SEIU 721 Members to Announce ULP Strike Authorization Vote Covering More than 55,000 Los Angeles County Employees; 1,000+ to Descend on Board of Supervisors Meeting in Downtown LA in Massive Show of Union Power; Rally and Press Conference at 9:30AM
LA County’s Rampant Labor Law Violations Compel Overwhelming Majority of LA County’s SEIU 721 Members to Vote for Unfair Labor Practice Strike Authorization; LA County’s Vast Network of Medical Facilities, Social Services, Parks & Recreation Sites, Street Services and More to Be Affected If ULP Strike Proceeds Forward
Los Angeles – More than 1,000 Los Angeles County SEIU 721 members are expected to announce overwhelming support for an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike authorization vote as they descend upon a meeting of the Board of Supervisors and pack the chambers in a massive show of union power starting at 9:30 AM.
“We have had it with LA County’s attempts at union busting and we are ready to strike,” said SEIU 721 President David Green, a Children’s Social Worker with the LA County Dept. of Children & Family Services for more than two decades. “Our union members keep this entire county system running – from the network of medical facilities and street services to social services and Parks & Recreation sites and more. If we have to shut down LA County to stop management’s union busting, then we will.”
Though segments of LA County’s workforce have come close to striking – most recently in May of 2022, when thousands of nurses reached an eleventh hour deal over stronger job protections and better compensation – a full-fledged strike of SEIU 721-represented bargaining units has not taken place in decades. This time, a ULP strike would include almost all of the LA County workforce and impact most services within the County’s 4,751 square mile service area.
WHO: 1,000+ LA County Employees Who Are Members of SEIU 721
WHAT: Union to Pack the Chambers and Announce ULP Strike Authorization – Press Conference and Rally
WHEN: Tues., Sept. 24, 2024 Starting at 9:30 AM
WHERE: LA County Board of Supervisors Meeting, Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration (Room 381B), 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
VISUALS: 1,000+ Union Members with Banners, Signs and Noisemakers Rallying Outside and Inside the Board of Supervisors Meeting
PARKING: It is recommended that TV trucks park along Grand Ave.
BACKGROUND:
SEIU 721 is demanding that LA County management honor all aspects of their union contract. To date, the union has filed more than 20 Unfair Labor Practice charges against LA County for serious issues, including:
- Refusal to adhere to a wide array of contract provisions agreed upon in our 2022 contract, including items related to discipline and union rights at work
- Widespread contracting out of SEIU 721 members’ work in multiple departments across LA County
- Illegal surveillance of SEIU 721 members engaging in union activity
- Retaliation against SEIU 721 stewards who engaged in union activity
“LA County has broken the law by unilaterally adopting its own language for our contract,” said SEIU 721 Treasurer Adolfo Granados, an Eligibility Worker II with the LA County Dept. of Public Social Services and a member of SEIU 721 since 1999. “It’s called union busting and we are done with it. Our union has tried diligently for two years to get LA County leadership to fix this problem. We’ve been patient as they have done nothing but delay, delay, and delay. We have no resolution on this critical issue. They think they can ignore this part of our contract or that part of our contract whenever they feel like it. They are wrong – and if we need to strike to prove it to them, we will.”
More than 55,000 LA County employees represented by SEIU 721 would be affected by the ULP strike. Affected departments include the Dept. of Health Services, the Dept. of Mental Health, the Dept. of Public Health, the Dept. of Public Social Services, the Dept. of Children & Family Services, the Dept. of Parks & Recreation, the Dept. of Beaches & Harbors, the LA County Library, the County Clerk/Registrar-Recorder, the County Coroner and Unincorporated Street Services.
“LA County leadership thinks they’re above the law but we’re fighting back,” said Lillian Cabral, SEIU 721 Secretary and a Head Clerk with the Dept. of Health Services, who has been a member of SEIU 721 since 1984. “We don’t have time to waste listening to meaningless excuses from LA County management. We don’t have time to waste waiting for the Board of Supervisors to get serious with county executives about honoring our union contract. The only thing we have time for is direct action – and we’re going to take it.”
SEIU 721 is no stranger to direct action in the form of ULP strikes. Just over a year ago, in August of 2023, thousands of workers at the City of Los Angeles represented by SEIU 721 held a one-day strike that impacted numerous services throughout the sprawling metropolis.
“Union busting is disgusting, and LA County should take a look at what happened in the City of Los Angeles if they think we’re bluffing,” said Simboa Wright, Vice President of SEIU 721 and a Wastewater Collection Worker II at the Dept. of Sanitation with the City of Los Angeles, who has been a member of SEIU 721 since 2001. “We are serious about putting a stop to all the nonsense going on a LA County. We will strike if we have to. We will fight back. And when we fight, we win.”
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Contact: Roxane Marquez, (213) 705-1078, Roxane.Marquez@seiu721.org
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