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Union Workers, LACo Reach Tentative Agreement for Service Employees
Union Workers, LACo Reach Tentative Agreement for Service Employees
Story by Contributing Editor •
Los Angeles County and the union representing thousands of county workers have reached a tentative contract agreement on salary and benefits, potentially ending a standoff that prompted a two-day strike earlier this year, officials announced Tuesday.
County officials said the proposed deal with the Service Employees International Union Local 721 would include a $5,000 one-time ratification bonus, a $2,000 bonus in year two, a 2% cost-of-living adjustment in year two and a 5% COLA in year three. The contract would run through June 30, 2028.
“This tentative agreement, if ratified by SEIU 721’s membership, is an important milestone that will enable us to focus our collective energy on our shared goal of serving the people of LA County,” according to a statement from the county. “We are proud of our long-term partnership with labor and grateful for all of the hard work on both sides of the table that has gone into months of negotiations during a period of unprecedented challenges to the County budget. SEIU 721 is the County’s largest union, representing more than half of the County’s workforce.”
Union officials said in a statement that the proposal “locks in historic cash bonuses, Cost of Living adjustments, increases to our annual healthcare contributions, and beats back the county’s efforts to include language allowing management to unilaterally reduce our raises in the future.”
According to the union, negotiations were still continuing with the county on other lingering contract matters, and union members plan to hold an “Action Day” at county Board of Supervisors’ field offices on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the union staged a massive rally at a Board of Supervisors, resulting in the arrests of six union members during a planned act of civil disobedience that disrupted the board’s meeting.
The public works employees, public and mental health professionals, social workers and other county employees represented by the union held a 48-hour strike April 28-30, impacting multiple services, including some non-urgent county clinics, 35 libraries and some beach restrooms. Wildfire clean-up services, trash pick-up and homeless encampment enforcement were also affected.
County officials maintained during the negotiating process that the county is facing unprecedented fiscal challenges, including a $4 billion settlement of thousands of sex assault claims, $2 billion in impacts from January’s wildfires “and the potentially catastrophic loss of hundreds of millions or more in federal funding.”
County CEO Fesia Davenport recently released her budget proposal for the 2025-26 fiscal year, including 3% cuts to some departments and the elimination of more than 200 vacant positions.
SEIU 721 is the county’s largest union, with members in 36 of the county’s 38 departments, according to the county.
“Funding this tentative labor agreement will require making budget cuts that will affect some programs,” county officials said Tuesday. “These sacrifices will be necessary to avoid a structural deficit as we move to provide fair compensation for our workforce in these difficult times.”
County workers to receive bonuses, COLA increases under new labor agreement
L.A. may face up to $400M budget deficit
By Knx News 97 1 Fm,
23 hours ago
The city of Los Angeles is facing a budget deficit that may hit $400 million this year.
The city is increasingly spending more money while increasingly taking in less money in tax revenue. KNX News’ Craig Fiegener reported that L.A.’s administrative officer, Matt Szabo, talked to councilmembers about new items that are impacting the budget, like the Los Angeles Police Department contract that gives police a 20% raise over the next four years.
https://www.newsbreak.com/los-angeles-ca/3315680484765-l-a-may-face-up-to-400m-budget-deficit
The TA was ratified by an overwhelming majority:
MOU 411 96.6%
MOU 412 100.0%
Your Negotiation Team and representatives of the CEO’s office have reached tentative agreements for MOU 411 and MOU 412. The new tentative agreements include a first year general salary increase of 5.5%, which would be retro-active back to October 1, 2022 if adopted by majority vote of the members who cast a ballot. The agreements also include a cash signing bonus of $1375.00 that would be payable (if adopted )on October 30th. Before the agreements can be presented to the Board of Supervisors for approval, it must be ratified by the members.
We have scheduled a ratification meeting where I will be presenting the full details of the Tentative Agreement for your consideration prior to voting. The time and place of meeting will be:
October 15, 2022
9:00 am to 11:30 am
SMART Local Union 105
2120 Auto Center Drive
Glendora, CA 91740-6720
Please make every effort to attend this very important meeting for members only. We will have membership cards on hand for anyone that wants to join and participate in the process of adopting our new contracts.
Special Thanks to everyone at SMART 105 for hosting our meeting!
I look forward to seeing you on the 15th.
LA Times (5/31/22)
By Andrew J. Campa
About 55,000 Los Angeles County employees have reached a tentative contract agreement that includes a double-digit raise over three years, averting a threatened strike.
Many of the union-represented employees, including custodians, parks and recreation staffers and social workers, are covered by provisions agreed to this month that include a 12% raise over three years.
About 7,000 nurses and other healthcare workers continued to hold out and were on the brink of a three-day strike before negotiators agreed Thursday morning to a 15% raise over three years, as well as double pay for overtime and potential concessions on outsourcing.
Union members must still vote to approve the contract, and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors must also sign off.
“We haven’t slept,” said David Green, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 721. “We wanted something fair for our nurses who have done so much during the pandemic.”
Katarina Del Valle Thompson, an organizer for registered nurses, said outsourcing was a major sticking point, particularly the county’s hiring of traveling nurses.
Negotiations progressed, Del Valle Thompson said, when the county agreed to an additional 3.2% pay bump over the next three years for nurses.
“I was not certain up until the time of an agreement that we would not strike,” said Del Valle Thompson, 70, who was an organizer when 4,000 nurses walked off the job in January 1988. “We didn’t want to strike, but we would have if necessary.”
The 7,000 nurses and other healthcare workers are stationed at facilities including Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center.
“The county didn’t appreciate us or take us seriously after everything we did during the pandemic,” said Markeitha Harris, a public health nurse. “It wasn’t right, and we were ready to strike.”
Harris said that during the COVID-19 pandemic’s first surge in 2020, she purchased her own N95 masks when county supplies ran low.
She has delayed vacations and worked all but two days of a recent vacation that was supposed to last two weeks, she said.
A statement from L.A. County Chief Executive Fesia Davenport’s office said the county was “pleased to have reached a tentative agreement.”
“In all our negotiations, the county’s objective is to reach fair and fiscally responsible agreements that recognize the essential contributions of our valued workforce,” the statement read.
All 55,000 workers will be eligible for up to $195 each month to offset rising healthcare premiums and a $100 to $375 monthly stipend for child and elder care.
The county also pledged to expand telework opportunities, reduce contracting with outside vendors and improve life insurance and public transportation options.
Strength in Numbers
Strength in Numbers
Unions Come Together to Fight for a Fair Wage Increase
UNIONS UNITED - a movement of 85,000 LA County workers to highlight the need for a FAIR and JUST contract in 2022.
The President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), Ron Herrera, recently sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors to announce the formation of this group along with a resolution that was approved unanimously by AFL-CIO’s Executive Board.
Portion of the letter by AFL-CIO President Ron Herrera
The members of Unions United are your employees who have been with you through thick and thin, cleaning our public streets, assisting with family services, and protecting our children during their most dire times. When circumstances called for it, they sacrificed both their bodies and their wages, as evidenced during the pandemic when workers maintained adequate levels of service while accepting wage freezes. County workers also fought off a gubernatorial recall, volunteered their time and resources to feed tens of thousands of LA County residents who were without food during the pandemic, and supported striking essential workers across the region as they pushed for better wages and working conditions.
That’s why the LA Fed is fully supportive of them in their quest for a better contract.
Click here to read the full letter and the Resolution.
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