Mayor Karen Bass said on Aug. 5 that Los Angeles officials are “available to make progress” around the clock this weekend on new contracts with workers, one day after the union representing city employees announced that members will head to the picket lines on the morning of Aug. 8 for a 24-hour strike to protest what they deemed a refusal to bargain in good faith.
“City workers are vital to the function of services for millions of Angelenos every day and to our local economy,” Ms. Bass said in a statement issued Saturday morning. “They deserve fair contracts and we have been bargaining in good faith with Service Employees International Union 721 since Jan. The City will always be available to make progress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Sanitation workers, heavy-duty mechanics, traffic officers, engineers, and many more city workers, who are represented by the city workers 721 union, plan to walk off the job to protest city management and other “unfair labor practices restricting employee and union rights,” according to a statement from the union on Aug. 4.
Ms. Bass is in Washington, D.C. through Aug. 7 to meet with senior White House officials.
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, workers will meet at City Hall for a march and rally, though picket lines will begin as early as 4 a.m., according to the union.
In May, city workers represented by the union voted overwhelmingly, with 98 percent approval, to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike—a first by city workers in more than 40 years.
“[The strike] comes at a watershed moment for the city, with officials preparing for the World Cup and Olympic Games in the coming years,” the union said in a statement. “Both events promise to have long-lasting impacts on the entire Southern California region, with a massive influx of tourists and athletes putting an enormous strain on the city’s frontline services, all on the world stage.”
David Green, president and executive director of the union, told City News Service that 30-plus strike lines are expected Tuesday all across the city.
Mr. Green said there would be thousands of people just at City Hall late that morning. “We are going to be throughout the entire city striking to send a message that the city’s broken the law. They need to come back to the table, they need to fill these vacancies and they need to listen to the concerns of the public.”
He said residents might experience a lack of service Tuesday, whether it’s the “folks that pick up their trash, that protect the harbor, work in parks, or that secure LAX.”
