Latest news with #SEIU721
CBS News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Los Angeles immigrant advocates plan "day of protest," boycotts after immigration raids at Home Depot, MacArthur Park
Local organizations across the Los Angeles area are calling for boycotts and a "day of action" on Tuesday to protest the immigration raids that have taken place in the region. A coalition of organizations, including CHIRLA, SEIU 721, UTLA and CARCEN-LA, says the federal enforcement is escalating, and they plan "stop the Trump terror through non-violent resistance such as rallying, car caravans, and marching." They are asking residents to participate in a 24-hour boycott, to attend rallies in MacArthur Park and downtown LA and support local businesses and street vendors. This comes after immigration enforcement operations have ramped up in Southern California, including several in the MacArthur Park area. Last week, federal agents were seen detaining people near a Home Depot and putting them in the back of a yellow Penske box truck in the Westlake District. The coalition of organizations is asking people to avoid shopping at stores like Home Depot, Target, Walmart and several other well-known businesses, which have been targeted during the raids. A spokesperson for CHIRLA said they are asking people to boycott those specific corporations because they believe "they can do more to speak out against the ICE raids." The spokesperson added that "it is no coincidence that a lot of the high-profile raids are taking place near those businesses." Felipe Caceres, the Western Region Chair for the SEIU International Latino Caucus, claims the businesses have the ability to do more to ensure their space is safe. "We aren't notified that these activities are going to happen, and we aren't involved in the operations," a spokesperson for Home Depot said in a statement to CBS Los Angeles. "We're required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate." CBS Los Angeles has reached out to these stores for a comment on the situation and is waiting for a response. Organizers claim LA is being attacked by militarized ICE operations, saying that additional federal funding "funneling unprecedented funds into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)" will only make matters worse.
CBS News
05-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Thousands gather in Los Angeles for 15-mile "Run Against ICE"
As protests continue throughout Los Angeles in light of the Trump administration's push to increase the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, a unique protest was planned on Saturday at noon. The "Run Against ICE Resistance Relay" organizers said the event had thousands of runners signed up as of Saturday morning for a 15-mile trot through immigrant-heavy neighborhoods in L.A. The route was scheduled to begin in Koreatown and end at the Placita Olvera while visiting areas like the Fashion District, Echo Park, Chinatown and Boyle Heights on the way. "The run route is designed to retrace the roads and stop by locations where our communities have rebuilt and risen," organizers said. The event was planned as part of the "Summer of Resistance," a coalition of activist groups protesting ICE. "We are here for [unauthorized immigrants]," said SEIU 721 Organizing Director Martin Manteca. "We stand with them and we will continue to fight for them."
Los Angeles Times
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Fair pay for L.A. County employees isn't a burden on the public's resources
To the editor: Complaining about Los Angeles County's budget, while being responsible for it, reveals a serious contradiction ('Looming raises for L.A. County employees could cost $2 billion, CEO says,' June 24). The L.A. County supervisors and Chief Executive Fesia Davenport want us to believe that fair pay is a burden on the public's resources. It is not. The Department of Public Social Services, for example, ensures county residents receive food stamps, Medi-Cal, housing, job support and essential care. These services keep families stable and communities afloat. Does the board really think now is the time to undermine L.A. County's safety net? The board's actions do more than dismiss the work of 55,000 county employees represented by SEIU 721. They effectively echo the Trump administration's efforts to defund public welfare systems that millions rely on. County workers belong to the same community and electorate that put the board in office. The board can't claim to serve the county while turning its back on those who serve and live in it. Denying workers a fair agreement isn't more fiscally responsible — it's a failure of duty to Angelenos on multiple levels. Christine Truong, West Covina
Los Angeles Times
24-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Looming raises for L.A. County employees could cost $2 billion, CEO says
Los Angeles County's looming agreement with its biggest labor union is expected to cost a little more than $2 billion over three years — the latest hit to a budget besieged by financial woes. The cost estimate, provided to The Times on Monday by the county chief executive office, will necessitate more belt-tightening for a government that's running out of notches. The deadly January wildfires are expected to cost the county $2 billion. The Trump administration has threatened cuts that would ravage the county's public health budget. The L.A. County supervisors agreed this year to a historic $4 billion sex abuse settlement — the largest of its kind in U.S. history — and required most departments to make 3% cuts to help pay for it. The cuts aren't done, Chief Executive Fesia Davenport warned the supervisors Monday as she walked them through the latest version of the county's sprawling $49-billion budget. To pay for salary bumps and bonuses for county workers in the tentative labor agreement, the updated budget slashes $50.5 million, cutting funding for parks, swimming pools and violence prevention, among other programs. Soon, each department will need to make an additional 5.5% cut, said Davenport, whose office drafts the budget and leads labor negotiations. 'We are taking this extraordinary step because we simply have no alternative,' she said. The supervisors unanimously approved the recommended budget Monday, which included an initial round of cuts to pay for some of the expected labor costs and the multibillion-dollar sex abuse settlement. Despite their unanimous vote, the supervisors had little nice to say Monday about the plan. 'While the budget may look like it's healthy, it's a sick patient,' said Supervisor Hilda Solis. As a result of the cuts, two probation offices are expected to shutter. County swimming pools will shut down earlier. Regional parks will now close two days a week. 'Like every other Angeleno, I'm mad too,' said Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who noted a petition she had seen on Nextdoor that morning protesting the two-day-a-week closure of Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area in her district. The county announced last week that it had reached a tentative agreement with SEIU 721, which represents 55,000 county workers. The agreement, which still needs to be ratified by the union membership and the supervisors, includes a $5,000 bonus in the first year, followed by a 2% cost of living adjustment and $2,000 bonus in the second year and a 5% salary increase the third year. The county is in negotiations with 16 smaller unions. The $2.1-billion price tag assumes that those unions will adopt similar salary increases and bonuses as SEIU 721. To pay for the new labor costs, the chief executive office said the county will dip into its general fund for $778 million. The remaining $1.2 billion or so will come from federal and state funds meant for staffing costs. David Green, the head of SEIU 721, said his members were 'thrilled' with the tentative contract — the fruit of months of negotiations and a two-day strike this spring. Last year, the city of Los Angeles agreed to contracts covering 33,000 union workers, many of whom would receive a pay increase of 24% over the next five years. The contracts, which the city estimated would add $3.5 billion in costs over five years, were a contributing factor in a massive budget shortfall that the City Council closed with layoffs and other spending cuts. Green, who negotiated with both the city and county, said comparing the two was like 'apples and oranges.' 'The economic climate has gotten worse in a lot of ways,' he said. 'I think you felt a little bit of that in L.A. county bargaining.' County supervisors appeared supportive of the agreement in Monday's meeting, though quick to pan the overall financial picture. 'This is a budget I don't like — I don't think anyone does,' said Hahn. But it could be worse, she noted. 'I know this is a budget ... that won't put us in the hole,' she said.
29-04-2025
- Business
Some 55,000 Los Angeles County workers walk out in 2-day strike, pausing operations
Approximately 55,000 of Los Angeles County's workers have taken to the streets downtown in a massive, two-day protest -- affecting a range of industries, from public services and health care to libraries and park management. Members of the labor union SEIU Local 721 began the strike on Monday night, saying in a press release that failed contract negotiations and 44 alleged labor law violations sparked the walkout. The strike also comes nearly four months after the devastating spate of wildfires burned through parts of Los Angeles County in January, causing billions in damage and a strain on public workers, the union said. "This is the workforce that got LA County through emergency after emergency: the January wildfires, public health emergencies, mental health emergencies, social service emergencies and more," David Green, SEIU 721's executive director and president, who has worked as an L.A. County children's social worker for more than two decades said in the union's release. "From the San Fernando Valley to the San Gabriel Valley, from the foothills to the beaches, all across LA County, we get the job done. That's why we have had it with the labor law violations and demand respect for our workers," Green added. The union claims the alleged labor violations include refusal to bargain with union members in good faith, surveillance and retaliation against SEIU 721 members engaged in union activity, restricting union organizers' access to worksites and contracting out of SEIU 721-represented positions. Additionally, the union claims the county's proposal had a 0% increase for workers' cost of living while its board of supervisors financed a $205 million downtown skyscraper for new office space. "These are the very same people telling the workforce – and taxpayers – that there is no money for more services or frontline staff," the union said in the release. In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, L.A. County's Chief Executive Office said it's "committed to negotiating in good faith with SEIU 721, and we are disappointed that the union is opting to stage a strike that will affect residents and impact service delivery at a time of great public need." The department added that it "disputes the union's assertion that the County has engaged in unfair labor practices." The county also cited "unprecedented stresses on our budget" including a $4 billion settlement of thousands of childhood sexual assault claims brought under AB 218, a projected $2 billion in impacts related to the January wildfires and recovery and the potentially catastrophic loss of hundreds of millions or more in federal funding, according to the statement. Speaking with ABC News' Los Angeles affiliate KABC, L.A. County's Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport said, "We have to monitor our revenues" and explained that the county's growth from property taxes is declining. "Our revenues are down because interest rates are up, and the number of houses that have been sold over the last couple of years have been declining. Our main source of revenue are local property taxes, so even though we get growth every year from property taxes, the amount of that growth is declining," Davenport said. The county is planning to meet with union workers Tuesday night, according to KABC. Marking the first strike of it kind for the union, SEIU 721 members include health, public health and mental health care professionals; social workers; parks and recreation staff; social services eligibility workers; public works personnel; clerical workers; custodians; coroner personnel; beaches and harbors staff; and traffic and lighting personnel, according to the release. The strike could impact non-urgent health clinics, libraries, wildfire debris removal, homeless encampment enforcement and trash pickup services, according to the union.
