Mayor Karen Bass said Saturday that Los Angeles officials are “available to make progress” 24 hours a day this weekend on new contracts with workers, a day after the union representing Los Angeles employees The city will announce that members will head to the picket line Tuesday morning for a 24-hour walkout to protest what they deemed a refusal to bargain in good faith.
“City workers are vital to the function of services for millions of Angelenos every day and to our local economy,” Bass said in a statement released Saturday morning. “They deserve fair contracts and we have been negotiating in good faith with SEIU 721 since January. The City will always be available to move forward 24/7.”
City janitors, mechanics, traffic officers, engineers and many more workers, who are represented by SEIU 721, plan to walk off the job to protest city management and other “unfair labor practices that restrict the rights of workers.” employees and unions,” according to a union statement on Friday.
Bass is in Washington, DC until Monday to meet with senior White House officials.
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, workers will gather at City Hall for a march and rally, though picket lines will begin at 4 a.m., according to the union.
In May, city workers represented by SEIU 721 voted overwhelmingly, with 98% approval, to authorize a strike over unfair labor practices, the first by city workers in more than 40 years.
“(The strike) comes at a defining moment for the city, with officials preparing for the World Cup and Olympic Games in the coming years,” SEIU 721 said in a statement. “Both events promise to have lasting impacts throughout the Southern California region, with a massive influx of tourists and athletes placing enormous pressure on the city’s front-line amenities, all on the world stage.”
David Green, president and CEO of SEIU 721, told City News Service that more than 30 strike lines are expected Tuesday across the city.
Green said there would be thousands of people at City Hall late in the morning. “We are going to be on strike across the city to send a message that the city has broken the law. They need to get back to the table, they need to fill these vacancies, and they need to listen to the public’s concerns.”
He said residents could experience a lack of service Tuesday, whether it’s “people picking up your trash, protecting the harbor, working in the parks or securing LAX.”
