As Los Angeles faces strikes from Hollywood creatives and hotel workers, the city can expect to see a new group striking this week.
Over 11,000 public service employees, including sanitation workers, mechanics, engineers, and traffic officers, plan to walk off the job on Tuesday for a 24-hour strike, the Los Angeles Times reported. A leader of the union representing the workers hopes the mass demonstration will effectively “shut down” Los Angeles.
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“The message we’re sending is that our workers are just fed up,” said David Green, Service Employees International Union Local 721 executive director and president. “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.”
SEIU Local 271 represents over 95,000 employees in Southern California from various disciplines, such as foster care, mental health, and beach maintenance, according to its website. When 11,000 members from the union walk out on Tuesday morning, the action will be the first major city worker strike in more than 15 years.
Green hopes city officials will listen to their concerns after the union makes its point.
“Sanitation alone has over 900 vacancies,” Green said. “Unfortunately, some of the people that work in City Hall are these out-of-touch administrators. And we’ve been sounding the alarm for years. So we’re saying, come back to the table.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement on Saturday ahead of the impending strike.
“City workers are vital to the function of services for millions of Angelenos every day and to our local economy. They deserve fair contracts and we have been bargaining in good faith with SEIU 721 since January,” Bass said. “The City will always be available to make progress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
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The union plans on returning to the bargaining table with city administrators starting Aug. 14 to negotiate new contracts on behalf of employees. In the meantime, the union expects picket lines to start forming as early as 4 a.m. Tuesday and workers to meet at City Hall for a march and rally at 11 a.m.
The Hollywood strike, composed of professional screenwriters and actors, has been going on for three months, and hotel workers in Los Angeles and the larger Southern California area have entered their second month of no work.