Thousands of Los Angeles municipal workers plan to strike Tuesday, adding to a chorus of disgruntled Angelenos striking in Hollywood and the hotel industry.
SEIU Local 721 is leading its more than 11,000 Los Angeles members in a strike that will see sanitation workers, mechanics, traffic officers, and others not show up to their posts.
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The city has not seen a strike of this magnitude in at least 15 years, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“We’re going to shut down the city of Los Angeles,” union Executive Director and President David Green said. “The message we’re sending is that our workers are just fed up. They’ve reached a breaking point. And we need these folks in the city to come back to the table for the good of the city.”
The union said its members are experiencing “unfair labor practices restricting employee and union rights.”
The effects of the strike could be wide-ranging, portending disruption at Los Angeles International Airport, the Port of Los Angeles, and other locations. Union members include more than 1,000 airport workers, such as shuttle drivers, mechanics, and custodians, as well as about 300 port workers, including tugboat captains.
“City workers are vital to the function of services for millions of Angelenos every day and to our local economy,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “They deserve fair contracts and we have been bargaining in good faith with SEIU 721 since January. The City will always be available to make progress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Last November, the union and city came to an agreement for one year, promising to work through winter holidays with the understanding that bargaining would continue in the new year. Union chief of staff Gilda Valdez said agreements still needed to be made for specific proposals under the broader framework.
According to Valdez, however, Los Angeles “reneged on their promise to negotiate on these issues.”
“We’re not going to tolerate unfair labor practices during bargaining or at all. We’re fed up,” Valdez said. “We have to send a very strong message to the city.”
The union plans to return to negotiations next week.
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SEIU’s strike comes while Hollywood actors and writers united in a strike for the first time since 1960, and local hotel workers in both Los Angeles and Orange County have protested as well.
The Hollywood strike has seen picket lines composed of 170,000 actors and 12,500 writers.
