Walkout by 3,400 Workers Slows County’s Operations

More than 3,400 Los Angeles County employees, most of them welfare workers, walked off their jobs Monday, slowing service to a crawl at some county offices, but closing none of them down.

Union officials vowed that the limited strike, protesting the absence of a contract with the county, will resume today at targeted facilities and that the walkouts will continue until an agreement is reached.

The work stoppage is the largest public employee walkout in California since the May 14 state Supreme Court’s landmark decision granting government workers the right to strike.

Hit hardest by the limited strike were 30 of the county’s 32 welfare payment offices. Carol Matsui, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Social Services, said 2,830--roughly half--of the department’s clerical and eligibility staffers failed to show up for work.

At the Belvedere welfare office, 5455 Whittier Blvd., both county officials and officers of Service Employees International Union Local 660 said that 191 of the 247 workers had walked off their jobs. Matsui said it was the county facility hit hardest Monday.

Workers said welfare recipients packed the Belvedere office waiting room in the morning but eventually left because there was no one to process their cases. By mid-afternoon, the office was all but deserted. Officials asked those requesting service to return later in the week. Meanwhile, about 20 workers picketed outside.

Marsha Vasquez, a strike coordinator, said the Belvedere office will also be struck today but all employees will probably be back to work Wednesday. “After that, we don’t know when we will go out again,” she said.

Also affected by the walkout were all 32 offices of the district attorney’s family support division. Nearly 300 employees, or 43% of the division’s clerical workers, stayed home or joined picket lines, according to a district attorney spokesman. Clerical employees in the children’s services, treasurer-tax collector and registrar-recorder’s offices also reported more than 200 no-shows among them.

On Monday night, most of the clerical staff assigned to the inmate reception center at the men’s Central Jail apparently joined the work stoppage. Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Hogan said 53 of 66 clerks who normally book about 900 new inmates into the jail each night or process about 1,500 prisoners returning from court either called in sick or failed to show up for work. Hogan said volunteers, deputies and supervisors were trying to take up the slack, but he anticipated delays today in sending inmates to court.

Management officials reacted to the strike by reiterating to reporters that, as one put it, “employees on strike won’t get paid.” But for the most part they confined management’s response to assessing the impact of the walkout.

No Offices Shut Down

No offices were forced to shut down by the work stoppage, but officials expressed concern that a protracted strike could result in a serious backlog for the welfare agency, causing lengthy delays in the preparation and distribution of benefit checks.

For the time being, as at the Belvedere office, recipients calling at most welfare offices to pick up benefit checks were asked to return later in the week.

Don Deise, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer, said the county has no immediate plans to seek injunctive relief to halt the walkout, although he and other county officials said they believe the strike violates the county’s employee relations ordinance.

Management officials acknowledged that county employees have a right to strike following the California Supreme Court ruling of May 14. But, they argue, the union has failed to invoke remedies short of a strike available to it under the county ordinance.

Contrary to earlier statements made by chief negotiator Phil Stone, Deise said the walkout will not trigger cancellations of scheduled talks between the union and the county. Negotiations continued Monday afternoon, in fact, with the union’s blue-collar workers and nursing employees. Deise added that talks with various Local 660 bargaining units are scheduled all week and are expected to take place.

Phil Giarrizzo, general manager of Local 660, told reporters outside a picket line of about 100 welfare workers at the Department of Public Social Services’ Beverly Boulevard office that rolling work stoppages at individual county facilities will continue today and probably all week.

“Every morning will bring a new situation,” Giarrizzo declared. But he would not disclose details of what tactics the union might exercise, choosing instead to promise a strike schedule aimed at keeping the county off balance.

600 Expected to Join Action

Expected to join the work action against the county today are about 600 flood control, sewer maintenance and warehouse workers, Giarrizzo said. In addition, hundreds of welfare office workers who walked off Monday are expected to return to their jobs today, he added. Librarians may also protest the stalled negotiations in a sickout, according to union sources.

Local 660 members voted overwhelmingly three weeks ago to authorize walkouts limited to selected county facilities if an agreement on a new contract was not reached by midnight Sept. 30. A full-scale strike, affecting the local’s 24 separate bargaining groups, would not be called until after the union’s membership voted on the county’s final offer.

Giarrizzo said Monday that the county had presented what it called its final offer to Local 660 on the fringe benefit proposals and on both fringes and pay to the union’s largest unit, made up of about 15,000 clerical workers. Giarrizzo added that a contract offer will not be submitted for membership ratification unless the union leadership can recommend its passage.

Local 660, the largest union of county employees, represents about 40,000 county workers in about 24 different job classifications ranging from prosecutors to nurses, paramedics to clerks. It is the only union of 21 representing county employees that has not reached tentative settlement on a contract to replace agreements that expired Aug. 31. Only one employee union, representing Superior Court clerks, actually has ratified the settlement, county officials said Monday.

Separating the county and Local 660 are wage and fringe benefit proposals as well as contract language and the length of a new agreement. Basically, the county is offering a 25-month contract that includes a three-tiered pay package and some reductions in holiday and sick pay benefits. Local 660 wants a one-year contract, no reductions in benefits and a better raise.

Giarrizzo said other impediments to a settlement involve union allegations of sex and race discrimination against county management, the lack of benefits for some 5,000 temporary workers and the issue of contracting out to private industry services normally performed by county workers.

“I’m not optimistic at this point there will be an early settlement,” Giarrizzo said.

Times City-County Bureau Chief Bill Boyarsky contributed to this story.