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Fed up with Los Angeles County management’s repeated law-breaking and failure to bargain in good faith, our union delivered an official 10-Day Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Strike Notice to the County today and announced our intent to strike during a press conference directly outside our union’s headquarters near downtown LA.
“LA County management keeps breaking the law – and we have had enough,” said David Green, SEIU 721’s Executive Director and President, who has worked as an LA County Children’s Social Worker II for more than two decades. “They’ve stalled contract negotiations for months. And they’ve committed at least 44 labor law violations to-date. Clearly, they thought they were above the law. They thought we would never go on a ULP Strike. They thought wrong.”
The ULP Strike will begin on Monday, April 28, 2025 at 7 PM. Though plans will be put in place to ensure that safety-critical services continue unimpeded, this ULP Strike would be the first of its kind in LA County history. It would impact LA County health, public health and mental health care professionals; social workers; parks & recreation staff; social services eligibility workers; public works personnel; clerical workers; custodians; coroner personnel; beaches & harbors staff; traffic & lighting personnel; as well as staff at the Treasurer/Tax Collector; Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk; the LA County Library; and more.
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“In my time with SEIU 721, I have negotiated many contracts and never have I seen such blatant disrespect,” said Steve Koffroth, SEIU 721 Director of Collective Bargaining and Research. “Right from the beginning, our union respected the law and bargained in good faith. In contrast, the county is allegedly guilty of not one, not two, but 44 labor law violations. I have never seen anything like this in my 35-year career. It’s clear that nothing will change if we don’t demand it. LA County is flagrantly and continually breaking the law – and we are done letting them get away with it.”
Our 55,000 union strong LA County workforce has serviced nearly 10 million residents in a 4,084 square-mile service area through the COVID pandemic; through the recent Winter wildfires; and through non-stop emergency situations in healthcare, foster care, social welfare, traffic enforcement, street repair and much more for many years. Instead of being thanked with good faith bargaining resulting in a strong contract, we have been on the receiving end of management’s repeated law-breaking, bearing the brunt of at least 44 alleged labor law violations.
These include:
- Refusal to bargain with union members in good faith
- Surveillance and retaliation against SEIU 721 members engaged in union activity
- Restricting union organizers’ access to worksites
- Contracting out of SEIU 721-represented positions
To add insult to injury, for years, LA County management simultaneously has been operating a taxpayer-to-private sector pipeline – funneling $7.7 billion in FY 2024-2025 to private firms while not requiring them to pay a living wage. Instead of privatizing good union jobs, those dollars should be staying in-house.
And while claiming money is a problem, the Board of Supervisors somehow found a spare $205 million recently to buy a skyscraper in downtown LA that will serve as new office space for themselves and LA County management. These are the very same people telling us, the workforce – as well as LA County taxpayers – that there is no money for more services or frontline staff.
“What LA County is doing is very serious and it is very wrong,” said Gilda Valdez, Chief of Staff at SEIU 721. “When someone commits a ULP violation, they are breaking the law. That’s what LA County management and the Board of Supervisors are doing. In fact, they are saying they are above the law. They are saying that our union must follow the law – but the law doesn’t apply to them. They are saying that our contract only matters when they say it matters. They are saying that they can ignore whatever they want, whenever they want – but we can’t. Well, we’re done putting up with their nonsense! All of us need to demand that LA County bargain in good faith. All of us need to demand that they follow the law. And all of us need to stand together in solidarity until they do. Our contract is all we’ve got. It’s our protection. It’s our shield. It’s everything. And we need to let everyone know that we will fight like hell to protect it.”
If LA County management comes back to the bargaining table with a strong offer between now and April 28, it is possible that our ULP Strike could be postponed or called off. Until then, our union will proceed forward with ULP Strike preparations.
In the meantime, you may have questions on how the ULP Strike could impact you and your colleagues at your worksite. Visit and bookmark our LA County ULP Strike Frequently Asked Questions page.
Also, keep an eye out for future emails and/or text messages from us. Those will be the primary ways we will be communicating with our LA County union members at SEIU 721 in the lead-up to our ULP Strike that currently is set to start on April 28 at 7 PM.
Together, we win!
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