Local News in Brief : Workers Demand Reopening of Talks

In a boisterous demonstration, members of the lone Los Angeles County employees union working without a contract picketed the Hall of Administration Tuesday and demanded a reopening of bargaining talks.

About 200 hospital clerical workers chanted slogans and marched outside the Board of Supervisors chambers before entering the meeting room and asking supervisors to force county negotiators to return to the bargaining table.

A spokesman for Service Workers Local 660 said the union is the only bargaining unit remaining without a contract. The workers who help patients at county hospitals obtain Medi-Cal and other benefits have been negotiating for more than a year, but the talks have have stalled over a wage package.

County officials said the union rejected a pay raise offer of 6.75% over the next two years. Union officials said workers are asking for at least 14%, the same increase received by clerks and other employees.