L.A. Workers End Walkout, for Now
L O S A N G E L E S, Oct. 12, 2000 -- An archbishop’s plea spurred the unionrepresenting 47,000 Los Angeles county employees to suspend itsstrike, at least temporarily, while negotiations continue.
Union officials late Wednesday night announced they weresuspending the strike in response to an appeal from Cardinal RogerMahony of the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese.
“It is my firm belief that the issues raised by both partieswill be resolved only through continuous, face-to-face negotiationsrather than through a protracted strike,” Mahony said in astatement.
Employees who took part in the first day of the general strikewere urged to return to work today, said Annelle Grajeda,general manager of Service Employees Union Local 660.
It was not known how long the suspension would last, unionofficials said. Negotiations were to resume this morning.
Union members would not hesitate to walk again, Grajeda warned,if progress toward a settlement isn’t made quickly.
Hospitals Hit Hard
The walkout started in earnest Wednesday morning after a week of“rolling” labor actions that had shuttered numerous countyfacilities, including hospital trauma centers and welfare officesfor one day at a time.
The full strike quickly forced severe cutbacks in hospitaltrauma care and shut down registrar-recorder offices across thecounty just weeks before the Nov. 7 general election.
The labor action came to a dramatic end after 11 p.m. Wednesdaywhen union officials responded to the appeal by Mahony, a longtimeactivist in California labor causes.
Among those striking were welfare workers, clerks who issuemarriage licenses and record property transactions, coroner’soffice workers, librarians, beach maintenance employees and sewermaintenance crews.
Six county hospitals and 42 health clinics that treat millionsof people annually were among the hardest hit Wednesday during thestrike.
Although county officials got a court order Tuesday barringnurses and other essential medical workers from striking, publichospitals with trauma units had to divert ambulances to privatehospitals, said county Department of Health Services spokesman JohnWallace.
Outside one county hospital, Daniel Lopez, who was paralyzedfrom the waist down when he was shot in the spine last week, had towait to go to a rehabilitation center.
“I was supposed to be transferred on Monday, and now I’m stuck.I’ll probably be here until this strike finishes,” Lopez, 21, saidafter being wheeled outside for air.
Possible Election Impacts
Also particularly hard hit were county registrar-recorderoffices — so much so the county had planned to go to court today to ask that those workers be ordered back, saying next month’s election could be jeopardized by the strike.
“If we continue to strike, the ballots will not get printed,”striker Becky Merriweather said as she picketed a Norwalkregistrar-recorder’s office. “Ballots will not be mailed out andabsentee voter applications will not get processed.”
County spokeswoman Judy Hammond confirmed that would be thecase.
Of the 42,000 union employees eligible to strike Wednesday,13,677 did not show up for the day shift, about 35 percent of allemployees scheduled to work that shift, Hammond said. She said thatnumber did not include about 3,000 people who had the day off, northose scheduled to work night and overnight shifts.
Before the strike, the county’s last offer was a general 9percent wage increase over three years. The union is seeking 15.5percent.
Some 60 percent of the county’s unionized employees earn lessthan $32,000 a year, union officials said.
Transit Strike ‘Final Offer’
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has madeits “final offer” to the United Transportation Union, whose 4,300bus and rail drivers entered their 27th day of strike today.
The transit strike is one of the longest in the city’s historyand affects some 450,000 daily riders.
The agency gave the union until Thursday to accept its offer.Union General Chairman James Williams declined comment.