April 29 was the first full day of a planned 48-hour strike of 55,000 Los Angeles County employees represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 in Los Angeles over wages and the union’s allegations of 44 labor law violations. On the picket line were public workers who included nurses, librarians, janitors, clerical staff, and many more. The union claims that Los Angeles County is not negotiating in good faith, stating that the union submitted its proposed contract in December but the county gave no response until March when the contract then current expired. When the county did respond, SEIU members said that they felt insulted when they saw the “zero” wage increase. The county proposal offered only a promise of a few bonuses in the future and a cost of living adjustment. The word “zero” was repeated often at a giant union rally in downtown Los Angeles on April 29.
The allegation of violations of labor laws includes claims of retaliation against union organizers, surveillance of employees, and outsourcing union jobs to private contractors. According to a SEIU report, Los Angeles County spent $6.2 billion in 2023 on outsourcing, which the union calls a “taxpayer-to-private-sector-pipeline.” This outsourcing is especially visible in healthcare, in which temporary nurses are brought in at pay levels that are sometimes four times greater than that of County employees.
