On Tuesday, thousands of Los Angeles city employees walked off the job for a 24-hour strike due to alleged unfair labor practices.
Picket lines were set up at various locations including LAX, and a rally was planned for later in the day at City Hall.
The union claimed that the city has failed to bargain in good faith and also engaged in labor practices that restricted employee and union rights.
Mayor Karen Bass said that “City workers are vital to the function of services for millions of Angelenos every day and to our local economy.”
She added that they “deserve fair contracts”, as the city has been bargaining with SEIU 721 since January.
Services such as parking enforcement and some traffic operations may be affected by this strike, however trash pickup will remain normal until Monday.
Travelers have been advised to arrive early at LAX due to potential interference from this action.
In response to these allegations, SEIU Local 721 voted overwhelmingly to authorize this walkout as an attempt to reach an agreement on several matters regarding employee rights.
A one-year deal between the city and collective had been agreed upon last November with an understanding that more negotiations would take place in January.
However, according to Gilda Valdez (chief of staff for SEIU), only small concessions were made by the city which she deemed ‘peanuts’.
The union now intends on returning back to the bargaining table next week on August 14th after filing an unfair labor practice claim against them with their Employee Relations Board over various issues ranging from health care benefits and wages increases among other things.
This comes along with strikes by writers Hollywood writers since May, actors joining them last month, hotel workers staging walkouts throughout summer, school staff walking picket lines earlier this year and contract disputes at Southern California ports all happening within 2020 alone.
In Northern California two unions representing nearly 4,500 San Jose City Employees also voted Monday night authorizing a three-day strike starting next week showing solidarity among others facing similar problems across different states thus far this year.
This is yet another example of organized workers unifying against what they perceive as injustice.
