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L.A. County Budget Crisis Update – No Layoffs Oct. 1!

Layoffs have been averted for now, but the L.A. County budget remains on shaky ground.

Without stimulus relief and passage of Prop 15, SEIU 721 members could be facing years of austerity budgets, hiring freezes, and stagnant wages. as the COVID crisis extends for over many more months, the prospect of layoffs could return. We need the HEROES Act and Prop. 15 (Schools and Communities First)!

The Chief Executive Office has confirmed that later this month a supplemental budget will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors that restores hundreds of positions and eliminates the planned October 1 layoffs.

The budget restoration is based on favorable developments at the State level – developments that SEIU locals across California fought for! State funding cuts to the Department of Child Support Services have been restored, eliminating the need for 137 layoffs.

But we are not out of the woods yet – AND WE ARE NOT DONE FIGHTING!

SEIU members are facing the prospect of continued austerity budgets, short staffing, hiring freezes, and very difficult bargaining.

We still need the HEROES Act and Proposition 15 to secure the safety net, protect public services, and maintain good jobs in L.A. County.

So, get ready to fight like our livelihoods depend on it – because they do.

Any financial relief for frontline workers that has been achieved so far we got because we stood up – as frontline workers – at the local, state and federal levels to demand it. The more we unify and take action, the harder it is for the powers that be to ignore us.

Don’t let them call us “heroes” at the start of the year only to give us pink slips at year’s end. Remind them that we kept this nation running during the entire COVID-19 pandemic and still do.

This Fall, we’ll need to fight for every dollar possible to keep our jobs and the public safety net intact – that means we need YOU!

We need your help to secure our jobs from cuts and furloughs in the long run! CLICK HERE to sign up and get more information.

We have volunteer opportunities for all. Some require just two hours of making calls to voters from your home! Do your part and CLICK HERE to sign up today.

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Julissa

Does anyone know if we are getting our 2.5% raise on October 1st?

Bart Diener

Yes. The 2.5% October 1 raise is secure. Our Bargaining Policy Committee never gave serious consideration to the County’s proposal to postpone it. All SEIU 721-represented employees in L.A. County will receive the negotiated raise.

armando

Any chance of a Separation Incentive Program (SIP) or “Golden Handshake”, similar to what the city received? I am a SW for DPSS, almost 27 years in

Bart Diener

Unfortunately, Armando, the County has no interest in early retirement incentive programs. Here’s why – There are only two kinds of incentives that have been used in the past: additional service years/retirement credit cash But, since 2013, when California passed PEPRA (the Public Employee Pension Reform Act) offering additional service years/retirement credit is now PROHOBITED. The County is no longer allowed to ffer additional credit. So that leaves Cash. But the problem here is that the County doesn’t have cash! As a result of the COVID Emergency, the County has been struggling with a cash-flow problem this summer. So they… Read more »