Why It Matters
The strike comes amid what California labor leaders have called a “hot labor summer,” during which a wave of walkouts and strikes have been spurred by frustration over wages that they say haven’t kept pace with the sky-high costs of living in Los Angeles and with inflation.
Hollywood writers and actors are on strike together for the first time in decades. Hotel workers across the region have been picketing in waves since the long July 4 weekend.
Labor officials have said that workers in a wide range of fields — crane operators at the port, custodians at public schools and more — understand what it’s like to struggle to make ends meet in a region where housing costs and other living expenses continue to soar.
David Green, the president and executive director of the union that represents the city employees, said that roughly 11,000 workers, including members of other unions, were expected to join picket lines at City Hall, Griffith Observatory and other locations.
Background
The union, Service Employees International Union Local 721, organized the walkout on Tuesday to protest what it considers to be unfair labor practices by the city, Mr. Green said. Contract negotiations broke down in the spring, he said, after the city sent negotiators who were not authorized to close deals. Union members feel that the city is not approaching the staffing crisis with sufficient urgency.
In the city’s sanitation department alone, according to Mr. Green, more than 900 jobs are open and there are scores of additional vacancies in other city departments. He said that the office that processes job applications was also severely understaffed, and that it often took six months or more to respond to applicants, who by then had found other jobs.
“There’s no immediacy,” he said. “But if you’re our members, there’s immediacy — if you’re working mandatory overtime every weekend, if you haven’t seen your family.”
In a statement, Ms. Bass said that the city had been bargaining with Local 721 in good faith since January.
“The city will always be available to make progress 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Ms. Bass, a Democrat, said.
What’s Next
Trash pickup was expected to be delayed by a day through the rest of the week, and the city was planning to rely on contractors for sewer-related emergencies.
Ms. Bass said that the city’s transportation department was slated to execute contingency plans for managing traffic around the Greek Theatre, where the young singer and songwriter Dominic Fike was scheduled to play a show on Tuesday night, and the Hollywood Bowl, which was set to host the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She added that there were similar plans for BMO Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Football Club, who were scheduled to play Real Salt Lake.
Many services, including child care and summer camps, were uninterrupted, the mayor said.
A bargaining session is scheduled for Monday, a spokesman for the union said. The union’s contract expires at the end of the year.
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