Our Strike Made Headlines – Now LA County’s Feeling the Heat

Our historic 48-hour Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike shook the foundations of Los Angeles County — and the nation took notice. As the first wall-to-wall labor action in LA County history, our strike dominated headlines across the entire region — Google links to more than 20,000 mentions — and has LA County management scrambling. Make no mistake: The LA County CEO and top management are going to feel the heat for their stalling tactics.

Our strike forced the issue into the public spotlight — and now elected officials, editorial boards, reporters and frustrated voters are asking why LA County is dropping the ball.

Thanks to our solidarity, we’ve already secured movement at the bargaining table — including increased contributions to medical coverage. But instead of negotiating in good faith, County leadership continues to drag their feet, delay progress, and disrespect our union. They’ve had our proposals for months. Their stalling tactics are outrageous — and after 25 years in this fight, I’ve never seen anything like it.

Indeed, to make sure LA County management knows we’re not done fight, we made our union’s sentiment known today right in the middle of Grand Park directly outside the Hall of Administration in clear view of everybody at the Civic Center and beyond.

But let me be clear: We’re just getting started.

In the coming days, we’ll escalate our campaign and bring the fight directly to the Board of Supervisors. We will not back down until we win a strong contract that respects our work, protects our jobs, and upholds the vital services our communities count on.

We showed the world what union power looks like. Now it’s time to turn up the pressure and finish the job.

In Solidarity,
David Green, SEIU 721 President and Executive Director