In a historic vote, the University of California Board of Regents voted unanimously Thursday to partner with Los Angeles County to reopen Martin Luther King Hospital.

Union bargaining team members reached a tentative agreement late Tuesday night that takes positive steps toward improving county services.

The agreement preserves services in a time when many residents depend on the county safety net more than ever. Click here to view more details about the agreement.

With contracts between LA County and its largest employee union set to expire at midnight on September 30, more than 2,000 LA County employees called on the Board of Supervisors to support an agreement that protects services in the economic downturn.

More than 55,000 LA County employees are negotiating a new contract that will protect the County's ability to serve 10 million residents in this economic crisis. SEIU 721 represents RNs, public health, park employees, social service workers, library employees and others who work directly with the public.

The pressure is mounting. For the past two weeks, our rallies on wheels have rolled through dozens of worksites reaching thousands of members. Our union contract expires Sept. 30. At the bargaining table, county management continues to demand a two-year contract that would impact our paychecks. Management's proposal shifts health care costs onto workers and introduces "fiscal emergency" language that could reopen our contracts to make further cuts to wages and benefits. On Tuesday, September 29, we're holding a rally at the Board of Supervisors to send a strong message that we're united in building a better LA County through improved jobs, increased efficiency and delivering higher quality services.
Click here to join us!

See all of our photos: Rally on Wheels I, Rally on Wheels II

Charlotte Thrash, an LVN at the MLK-MACC, was in San Francisco Sept. 18 to help jumpstart the reopening of King Hospital.

Thrash joined Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass to urge the University of California Regents to partner with LA County to reopen the hospital and restore the full complement of medical care to South Los Angeles.

Thrash is a 36-year veteran of the hospital. She has worked in almost every critical care sector of the hospital, including the emergency department. Thrash started as a Nursing Attendant just two years after the hospital opened in the 1970s.

Her commitment to the area and the community runs deep, she told National Public Radio in an interview with a radio reporter.

"I remember when there was no hospital in our neighborhood," Thrash said. "The closure devastated our community and my co-workers once again and I will help reopen it. We need this hospital."

Photo above: Charlotte Thrash, LVN at MLK-MACC in South LA, is interviewed by NPR reporter Julie Small.

by John Tanner, executive director, SEIU 721

More than one hundred people assembled outside the packed Board chambers at the Hall of Administration in Downtown Los Angeles Tuesday - the vast majority were there to support reopening King as a full service hospital. Inside it was standing room only.

2-Year Contract Would Allow Board to Re-Open Talks if Fiscal Emergency Is Declared

In our second negotiations session, county management made its proposal to our bargaining team. Their first proposal called for a two-year contract, rather than the traditional three years, and what officials termed "financial contingency" language. The proposal calls for no salary increases or other compensation increases and the new language would allow the county to open our contract at any time during the two-year period if the Board of Supervisors declared a fiscal emergency.

SEIU 721 and community allies deliver extra-Strength vitamins to Speaker Bass to help her stand up to the Governor.

As critical decisions on the state budget come down to the wire, hundreds gathered at the California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass' Los Angeles office to help preserve critical public services.

View photos from the support rally.

by Carolyn Zanders
Eligibility Worker, LA County

Assemblywoman Norma Torres told my local newspaper that the state should solve the source of its financial woes, not temporarily fix them. But we need a fair budget solution.

Over a thousand community members and county workers gathered at the LA County Hall of Administration on June 22 to speak out against the Governor's budget proposal that would deny basic health care and home care to millions of children, students, seniors and people with disabilities. Here's what they had to say...