The Start of Building a Better LA County

So that means at our bargaining session, we presented our proposals to Build a Better LA County. It’s an outline, in a problem-solution format, and it’s our effort to improve services to benefit both community and county workers. Our ideas, which were collected from hundreds of SEIU 721 members, include suggestions to improve quality of service, create cost savings, increase health and safety at work, keep work in-house and make LA County environmentally friendly. See the full document here. We also formally rejected the county’s financial contingency language – a proposal that would allow the county to break our contract at any moment by declaring a “financial emergency.” The SEIU 721 Bargaining Team and the County both agreed to continue bargaining in good faith, despite an automatic impasse date of July 31. We also submitted proposals to strengthen stewards’ rights, secure union representation of any county work transferred to another entity, and strengthen worker protections for injury leave. Bargaining sessions are scheduled for each Thursday in August and Monday, August 31. See our calendar for more info.