Countywide : Bloodmobiles Roll On, Despite Strike

A strike by some bloodmobile drivers and laboratory employees in the Los Angeles-Orange County region of the American Red Cross will have little effect on blood supplies in Orange County, Red Cross officials said this week.

Only six of 33 laboratory workers who are members of Teamsters Local 208 failed to report for work Monday, and all eight of the county’s bloodmobile drivers continued to work, said Sylvia Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross.

“We expect that the majority of the bloodmobiles will be continuing this week,” Stewart said. Management personnel will take over blood processing and testing for the striking lab workers.

Cheryle Babbitt, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross in Los Angeles, said blood supplies in both counties are adequate and that no disruptions of blood deliveries to hospitals are expected.

“We have a very strong inventory of blood on hospital shelves and at the Red Cross,” Babbitt said. “We also have the ability to draw upon other Red Cross blood centers across the country . . . if (the strike) should be prolonged.”

About 150 bloodmobile drivers and lab workers in Orange and Los Angeles counties walked off the job Sunday after contract negotiations broke down. Ron Havens, a representative of Teamsters Local 208, said the union is seeking a three-year contract with raises of 10% the first year and 7% in each of the next two years for all employees. The Red Cross has offered 5% per year for three years for bloodmobile drivers and lab technicians, and a 10% raise in the first year and 5% in the remaining two years for licensed laboratory technologists.