Thousand of LA County Workers Set to Strike Over Alleged Unfair Practices

Union workers are expected to walk off their jobs starting at 7 p.m. April 28. The county disputes the charges of labor law violations.

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is seen in La Cañada Flintridge as wildfires rip through the region on Jan. 14, 2025 in Los Angeles. Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

Thousands of Los Angeles County workers say they’ve had enough of the county’s alleged “rampant labor law violations” and expect to walk off their jobs at 7 p.m. April 28, the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU 721) has announced.

The county has pushed back against the union’s allegations.

Contract talks began between the county and union leaders in July 2024.

The strike is designed to ensure that the union’s “message of solidarity” is heard by the Board of Supervisors and county management, according to the union.

“L.A. County management keeps breaking the law—and we have had enough,” said David Green, the union’s executive director and president, and a longtime social worker, in a statement provided to The Epoch Times on Monday.

Green alleged that the county has stalled contract negotiations for months and committed multiple labor law violations.

“Clearly, they thought they were above the law,” he said. “They thought we would never strike. They thought wrong.”

The union alleges the county refuses to bargain in good faith and has surveilled and retaliated against union workers, restricted union organizer access to worksites, and contracted out union positions during contract negotiations.

The union also accused the county of allotting $7.7 billion since July 2024 to private firms and not requiring them to pay their workers a living wage.

The county’s Chief Executive Office disputed the allegations and said the county was “fully engaged in good faith bargaining” with the union.

“We are disappointed that the union is choosing to announce a work action that, if carried out, will affect residents and impact service delivery at a time of great public need,” the executive office told The Epoch Times in an email Monday.

The county also disagrees with the allegations of unfair labor practices, according to the office.

The union’s claims are being considered by the county’s Employee Relations Commission.

Damage from the Eaton Fire is seen from the streets of Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 24, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

“The union has chosen to go on strike rather than waiting for [the commission] to resolve the large number of claims that SEIU has filed,” the executive office added. “The county disagrees with these charges—most of which have not yet been adjudicated—and we are looking forward to having these claims resolved; not through unverified statements in press releases but at the Employee Relations Commission.”

The county faces “unprecedented stresses” on its budget, including a tentative $4 billion settlement of thousands of childhood sexual assault claims from generations of children in its juvenile and foster care systems, which were brought under Assembly Bill 218, according to the executive office.

The bill, which went into effect in 2020, allows recovery of up to three times the damages against certain defendants if they are found to have willfully concealed the assault. It also extended the time limit of claims that have lapsed under certain circumstances.

The county is expected to have long-lasting budgetary impacts from the law.

The county also expects to pay $2 billion in recovery costs related to the Palisades and Eaton wildfire disasters in January.

County officials also may lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, according to the executive office.

“We are working hard to make sure our labor partners understand the financial reality of our situation,” the executive office added. “Despite the severity of our fiscal outlook, the county has made fair and responsible counterproposals that we hope the union will seriously consider.”

Beachside homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., on Jan. 16, 2025. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The county said it was committed to continuing union negotiations until they reach something they can all agree on, “which is the county’s absolutely essential role in serving the people who rely on us not just for safety net services but to make their lives better.”

The union plans to continue providing emergency health services, according to SEIU 721.

County workers affected by the strike include health, public health, and mental health care professionals; social workers; parks and recreation staff; eligibility workers; public works personnel; clerical workers; custodians; coroner staff; beaches and harbors staff; traffic and lighting workers; and others.

The strike is scheduled to continue until about 7 p.m. Wednesday, the union reported.

As the largest public sector union in Southern California, SEIU 721 represents more than 55,000 members in Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, and Santa Barbara counties, and the cities of Azusa, Beaumont, Palm Springs, Pasadena, San Fernando, and Santa Ana.

The members work in hospitals, foster care, mental health, courts, law enforcement, libraries, street services, beach maintenance, sanitation, water treatment, parks services, and watershed management.