3-Day ULP Strike to Launch June 1 and Impact the LAC+USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights; Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar; Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center in Willowbrook; Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey; Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in West Carson; and High Desert Regional Health Center in Lancaster
LOS ANGELES – Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and other public healthcare professionals who have comprised the frontline of Los Angeles County’s COVID pandemic response will join Union leaders for a press conference at the LAC+USC Medical Center to announce on Thurs., May 26 at 10 AM that a three-day Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Strike will proceed throughout the LA County’s healthcare network effective June 1 at 6 AM.
The strike arrives on the heels of six months of contract negotiations between the County and SEIU 721 represented Registered Nurses (RNs) and Supervising Registered Nurses (RNs) marred by the County’s bad faith bargaining. SEIU 721 officially informed the County this past Sunday of RNs and Supervising RNs intent to exercise their legal right to a ULP strike.
Together, the two RN bargaining units comprise approximately 7,000 frontline employees across the Department of Health Services (DHS), the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Mental Health (DMH).
The ULP Strike will last for three days starting on Wed., June 1 at 6 AM. It is expected to affect all public hospitals and medical centers operated by the County – including the LAC+USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights; the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center in Willowbrook; the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey; the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in West Carson; and the High Desert Regional Health Center in Lancaster.
“LA County continues to bargain in bad faith with our Nurses and we have had enough,” said SEIU 721 President David Green. “Our Nurses and healthcare workers are essential – not expendable. They’ve been working non-stop since this pandemic began, making tremendous sacrifices and demonstrating true heroism. Since January, our Nurses have come to the bargaining table prepared to negotiate seriously on issues that address quality of care for patients, and the retention of Nurses within the County’s system. The County has simply not demonstrated the urgency to work with our Nurses with the respect that they deserve after putting their lives on the line through multiple COVID surges. We’re taking a stand and moving forward with a three-day ULP strike starting bright and early on June 1.”
- WHO: Los Angeles County Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and other public healthcare professionals represented by SEIU Local 721
- WHAT: Official Public Announcement that 3-Day ULP Strike Affecting LA County’s Healthcare Network Will Start on June 1
- WHEN: Thurs., May 26 at 2022 at 10 AM
- WHERE: LAC+USC Medical Center, 2051 Marengo St., Los Angeles, CA 90033
- Press conference will take place adjacent to the LAC+USC Medical Center steps near the corner of Marengo St. and Cummings St. Media trucks should park along Marengo St.
- VISUALS: The landmark LAC+USC Medical Center will function as a backdrop as nurses, RNs, nurse practitioners, and other public healthcare professionals represented by SEIU 721 join union officials to make the official the ULP Strike announcement. They and their supporters – which will include both their fellow union workers in SEIU 721 as well as community healthcare activists – will hold the a “practice picket” demonstration outside the hospital once the press conference concludes.
BACKGROUND: Thursday’s announcement that LA County’s healthcare workers will move forward with a three-day ULP strike will come after weeks of exhaustive negotiations between the County and the Union. SEIU 721 represents approximately 55,000 LA County frontline workers in healthcare, public safety, social services, mental health, parks and recreation, clerical services, street services and more.
Prior to the start of bargaining, the Union secured the official authorization of SEIU 721’s LA County members to move forward with a ULP strike, with 98% of ballots cast in favor of striking. Negotiations then moved forward – but bad faith bargaining plagued negotiations between the County and Bargaining Units 311 and 312, which represent the very same Nurses, RNs, Nurse Practitioners and other healthcare professionals that the County rightly lauded as heroes just mere months ago.
Consequently, SEIU 721 will make public the Union’s official intent to move forward with a three-day ULP strike affecting the County’s healthcare workers starting on June 1.
Despite the fact that most LA County Bargaining Units have reached a deal, the Union anticipates strong solidarity among members and big support for striking healthcare workers given LA County members’ near unanimous support for a ULP strike. That vote came on the heels of SEIU 721’s monumental “Fight for the Frontline” march, rally and strike vote countdown earlier this Spring. In what was the biggest demonstration in SEIU 721’s history, thousands of Union workers packed downtown LA, breathing even more life into the union resurgence currently expanding at historic levels throughout the nation.
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Contact: Roxane Marquez, Roxane.Marquez@seiu721.org, (213) 705-1078
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