Latest news with #SEIULocal721
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.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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. MORE: Arbor Day: How Los Angeles is replanting trees after devastating wildfires "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. MORE: Several injured, including children, after minivan drives into crowd in Los Angeles 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. Further information on closures and service delays can be found out Some 55,000 Los Angeles County workers walk out in 2-day strike, pausing operations originally appeared on
New York Times
29-04-2025
- Health
- New York Times
More Than 50,000 Workers Go on Strike as Budget Woes Disrupt L.A. County
Public hospitals diverted ambulances. Beach crews cleared wildfire debris without heavy equipment. Libraries closed. Thousands of nurses stayed home. A two-day strike in Los Angeles County kept some 55,000 unionized public employees off the job on Tuesday, as workers gathered at an enormous rally that clogged streets in downtown Los Angeles. The walkout by the public employees union, SEIU Local 721, came as contract negotiations between the nation's largest county and the county's largest union snagged in the face of intense budget pressures. Both the city and county governments in Los Angeles have struggled in recent months to deal with an onslaught of financial problems, including huge legal liabilities, threats to federal funding under the Trump administration and the cost of the January wildfires. Last week, city officials — who stretched last year to grant their unions generous pay raises — traveled to Sacramento to ask state legislators for help with a projected shortfall of nearly $1 billion. Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles warned that without a state rescue, the city might have to lay off some 1,650 workers. Los Angeles County, a much larger entity that acts as the social safety net for millions of Southern Californians, announced this month that its financial stressors were also mounting. Among them: projected wildfire-related costs approaching $2 billion; hundreds of millions of dollars in health grants that have been jeopardized by the Trump administration; and a $4 billion settlement for thousands of sex abuse claims brought by former wards of the county's foster care and juvenile detention systems, dating back decades. The financial hits have come as the county, which employs more than 100,000 workers and serves nearly 10 million people, is negotiating its contracts with its mostly unionized labor force. SEIU Local 721 represents social, clerical, public health, and parks and recreation employees and has members in all but two of the county's 38 departments. Union leaders said this strike, which ends on Wednesday at 6:59 p.m., was the first to include all of the local's members. Their contract expired in March. Leaders charged that the county had 'stalled' negotiations and violated dozens of labor laws, including surveillance of workers and retaliation. 'They thought we would never strike,' David Green, a social worker who is the local's executive director and president, said in a statement. 'They thought wrong.' By Tuesday morning, libraries from Compton to Catalina Island had shut down because of a lack of staffing, and maintenance crews who had been cleaning up wildfire debris were making do without unionized operators of bulldozers and other heavy equipment. Residents hoping to reclaim or adopt pets were warned to expect delays at county animal shelters. Portable toilets were set up on county beaches where striking workers had left some restrooms closed. Fesia Davenport, the Los Angeles County chief executive, said she was most concerned about the human toll to the county's sprawling health care system, such as disruptions in care for children with severe physical and intellectual disabilities who relied on mobile therapy units. On Monday evening, she noted, an ambulance carrying a teenage victim of a shooting in East Los Angeles was diverted to an emergency room nearly 10 miles away in Pasadena because the strike had affected the staffing at the nearest hospital, Los Angeles General Medical Center. In a statement, the county health services department confirmed that ambulances had been diverted from the hospital on Monday, where 150 union members had been picketing. 'I think this is going to be very disruptive,' Ms. Davenport said. 'We serve folks who are really vulnerable and often don't have options to go and receive services at other places. We are the service provider of last resort.' She said the county had met 'almost every single day' for more than a month with the union and had recently offered cost-of-living raises and one-time bonuses to employees. But, she said, at least some of the union's dissatisfaction appeared to stem from the raises that the City of Los Angeles agreed to last year with its politically powerful unions, including significant increases for the police and firefighters. She noted that the credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings recently downgraded the long-term rating for general obligation bonds issued by the city, citing its personnel costs, among other issues. Los Angeles County's high credit rating from S&P is crucial, Ms. Davenport said, because the county's plan to pay the multibillion-dollar sex abuse settlement hinges in part on a large bond issue. Higher interest rates could increase borrowing costs by millions of dollars. 'We are trying to manage our obligations in a way that we don't negotiate into a structural deficit,' she said.
Los Angeles Times
19-04-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. County and city are both reeling financially. Why is the county better off?
Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It's Rebecca Ellis, with an assist from my colleague David Zahniser, giving you the latest on city and county government. 'Tis the season for financial woes. L.A. city officials can't afford the pay raises they agreed to just last year. Legal payouts are skyrocketing. The city's infrastructure sustained hundreds of millions in damage from the Palisades fire. L.A. County hasn't fared much better. Officials say they're saddled with roughly $2 billion in wildfire costs. They've reached a $4-billion sex abuse settlement — the largest in U.S. history. The Trump administration keeps threatening to slash federal funds. So how come only the city is in a financial crisis? 'We're not writing checks that can't be cashed,' said L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. This week, the county unveiled its $48-billion proposed budget for the next fiscal year, put together amid what everyone agreed were 'unprecedented' financial pressures. And yet the announcement wasn't all doom and gloom. The county wasn't expecting any layoffs. Cuts this year would amount to a measly $89 million. And the budget was balanced. Compared with the city, which reported a projected budget shortfall just shy of $1 billion and 'nearly inevitable' layoffs, the announcement was borderline jolly. The city's fiscal fiasco was a 'wake-up call,' said Barger, who attributed part of the county's success to the fact that, unlike the city, she and her colleagues have not agreed to dramatic raises for employees. 'Then, we're not laying off employees as a result of not planning our fiscal situation years out,' said Barger. That willingness to draw the line could have other repercussions. On Thursday, SEIU Local 721, which represents 55,000 county employees, announced they planned to strike at the end of the month, in part because, according to the union, the county has slow rolled contract negotiations. 'We've been stuck at zero for more than six months,' said union head David Green. 'That's just not an offer — that's pushing people to leave their jobs.' To weather choppy financial waters, the county is also leaning heavily on its plush rainy day fund, which it can drain to pay for the mammoth sex abuse settlement. The fund has not been touched since the aftermath of the Great Recession. 'It is like the holy grail,' said Chief Executive Officer Fesia Davenport of the billion-dollar pot. The city, by contrast, has repeatedly tapped its reserve, which was hovering above 3% earlier this year. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, in an interview, said the city's financial problems are about more than employee pay. The biggest drivers of the budget crisis are a downturn in economic activity — including lower-than-expected tax revenues — and the soaring cost of legal settlements and jury awards, she said. 'If all we had was the rising personnel costs, we wouldn't even be considering layoffs or drastic cuts,' she said. Longtime employees say penny-pinching has been in the county government's bloodstream ever since it almost went bankrupt in 1995. The healthcare system was on the brink of collapse due to sloppy financial planning by county leaders. In the end, former president Bill Clinton bailed out the county. 'It was an embarrassment,' said former Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who helped steer the county out of the red. 'This was like our Great Depression: We never want to be put in this position again.' Still, the careful planning by the county's financial minds may all be for naught. Two days after Davenport announced her spending plan, news broke that the Trump administration planned to slash $40 billion from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, sending a wrecking ball through the county Department of Public Health. 'I think every department is just shocked, to be honest,' said county public health director Barbara Ferrer, who called the administration's cuts 'ignorant.' The county health department gets about $1 billion — two thirds of its total budget — from federal grants, which fund prevention work for everything from lead poisoning to sexually transmitted infections. Under the proposed federal cuts, the county department would lose about $300 million and roughly 500 employees, decimating the prevention work, said Ferrer. 'You can really now see the administration's proposal to pretty much decimate local public health as we know it today,' said Ferrer. 'You can't absorb that level of disinvestment. I don't have $300-million worth of efficiencies to find.' — COSTS KEEP COMING: The county has put the estimated cost of the January wildfires at nearly $2 billion, which includes $1 billion in lost revenue and another billion to cover costs like soil testing and debris removal. — FAILURE TO WARN: The first evacuation order for west Altadena did not come until after dispatchers had received at least 14 reports of fire in the area, according to 911 logs obtained by The Times. Nearly all the deaths from the fire occurred in west Altadena. — POLLING PLUMMET: Bass is less popular than she was a year ago, according to a new survey by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. The drop in popularity was likely related to her handling of January's wildfires. — SHUTDOWN TIME: A Los Angeles County judge said Friday that he planned to shut down Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, months after a state oversight body found it 'unsuitable' to house youth. The probation department has until early May to plan a relocation for roughly 270 youths in custody. — NO VISION: City officials released an eagerly anticipated audit of Vision Zero, a program that aims to eliminate traffic fatalities in L.A., and why it failed. Factors include poor coordination and a lack of political will from city leaders, the document said. — RESUME QUESTIONS: The new head of the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency is leaving when his contract is up this fall. Ryan Johnson's departure comes amid concerns about his background and how closely he was vetted before taking the gig. — TAKEOVER TAKEDOWNS: L.A. County took its first step toward dramatically increasing penalties for anyone participating in street takeovers. The county wants to double the misdemeanor fines from $500 to $1,000. — SEEING RED: The Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America held its annual convention last weekend, with more than 200 members voting on priorities for the coming year. The group will focus on responses to threats from the Trump administration and, at the local level, tenant rights issues. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez was in attendance. — WORKING OVERTIME: The county Sheriff's Department spent $458 million on overtime in the last fiscal year, The Times found. Those expenditures were driven in part by a reduction in the number of deputies since COVID-19. — SOIL TESTING: The county will allocate $3 million to help homeowners in the Eaton burn area test their soil for lead contamination. The funding comes after elevated levels of the heavy metal were found in the soil of properties with homes still standing.
