Student Workers Speak Out About Exploitative Jobs, Missed Opportunity to Promote Youth

Tuesday Press Conference Sheds Light on Unfair Treatment by Los Angeles County

Bargaining chair, Alisa Nadjaryan describes the unfair treatment of student workers to a crowd of SEIU members and members of the press. view photo gallery


LOS ANGELES – Summer is here and while many youth are finding work for the first time, student workers for Los Angeles County are finding themselves stuck in the same place.

Fed up, students gathered on the steps of the L.A. County Hall of Administration for a press conference and rally on July 8 to shed light on L.A. County’s missed opportunity to attract youth into public service and help build LA area students’ job experience.

“It’s difficult balancing work, school and the responsibilities of taking care of a disabled mother,” says Lourdes Morales, a student worker at East Lake Juvenile Detention Center. “But it’s even more stressful that I’m responsible for training new employees yet I don’t get the same pay or benefits as the people I train. Since I don’t have paid personal time, I lose every time I have to bring my mother to the hospital or catch up on a school assignment.”


The gathering drew support and participation from over 50 other L.A.County employees. Assemblymember Ed Hernandez and Ricardo Lara,District Director for Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez, spoke in support. Eleven elected officials wrote letters to C.E.O Bill Fujioka including: Assemblymembers Ted Lieu, Anthony Portantino, Mike Eng, Kevin deLeon, Chuck Calderon, Paul Krekorian, Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez, EdHernandez;State Senator Gloria Romero;State Controller John Chiang; and Board of Equalization member Judy Chu.

Unlike programs in other cities and counties that help build students’ professional experience through mentorship, most student workers in Los Angeles work 40 hours per week, do the exact same work as permanent county employees and have held their positions for years, but they are denied basic employee rights and benefits like paid time off and health care, which the county provides to other workers. Students called on the county to create a program that trains students for the workforce while they contribute to public service.

In the news
http://www.scpr.org/news/stories/2008/07/08/18_student_workers_0708.html
http://www.hoyinternet.com/noticias/localidades/losangeles/hoy-0709protestajul09,0,3497976.story