400 County Public Works Employees Stage Sickout

About 400 Los Angeles County building inspectors, engineers and flood control workers called in sick Monday to protest stalled contract talks, but county officials said the job action--involving about 10% of the public works employees--caused little disruption.

Workers represented by the California Assn. of Professional Employees have been on the job without a contract since Sept. 30. The employees handle such jobs as inspecting private construction and overseeing public works projects.

The job action caused county officials to send supervisory personnel to a building and safety office in East Los Angeles where only one worker out of a office staff of 12 showed up.

The union did not call the sickout, a spokesman said, but “encouraged workers to express their displeasure” with stalled labor negotiations. The union is seeking an 8.5% pay raise for each year of a two-year contract. The county has offered 1.75% a year, but employee relations director Elliot Marcus said, “That, of course, is not the final offer.”

County officials told employees calling in sick that they would not be paid unless they present “proof satisfactory to the department” that the absence is linked to illness.