Sickout at Welfare Offices Creates Chaos on ‘Check Day’

Chaos reigned at welfare offices on Monday as Los Angeles county workers staged a one-day sickout to protest working conditions and stalled contract negotiations.

The walkout came on a day when thousands of homeless and indigent people were scheduled to pick up welfare checks and food stamps at 31 regional offices of the Department of Public Social Services.

County officials said they asked clients to leave the offices and return today unless they faced emergency situations.

About 40,000 county employees--including nurses, librarians and court clerks--have been working without a contract since last week. Officials of the Service Employees Union Local 660 said they organized Monday’s walkout as part of a series of “rolling thunder” actions to dramatize the plight of county workers.

While most welfare clients received their checks in the mail Saturday, county officials said 3,800 homeless people without mailing addresses were scheduled to pick up their checks Monday at DPSS offices. In all, about 20,000 people are served each day at DPSS offices.

By midmorning, more than 400 people were crowded into the main lobby of the DPSS Civic Center office on 4th Place near Skid Row. Long lines snaked through the narrow aisles between rows of chairs filled with bored, angry and frustrated men and women. The crowd spilled out the front door and security officers struggled to keep the entrance clear.

Many clients complained that if they did not receive their welfare checks they would be unable to pay the cost of a room at a nearby downtown hotel and that they would be forced onto the street for another night.

James Mc Millen said that if he did not get his $203 welfare check he would “sleep in a box like I’ve been doing for the last three nights in a row.” At 1:30 p.m, despondent after five frustrating hours in the dank lobby, Mc Millen walked out to the sidewalk and appeared ready to give up.

Tyrone Rucker, 36, faced a similarly perilous situation--he had not received his $90 in vouchers for food stamps. “I can’t eat till I get some food stamps,” he said.

Among the social workers staying home Monday was Norma Ross, 43, an eligibility worker at the Metro North office near MacArthur Park.

“We want our clients to understand we are not taking this action just for ourselves,” Ross said. “We need additional workers and we’re trying to let the public know the only way we know how.”

Ross, a 12-year veteran of the department, said years of fiscal austerity and staff cutbacks had led to miserable working conditions for most social workers.

“There used to be a time when I enjoyed my job,” she said. “But I can’t get satisfaction out of it anymore. Because we really don’t help anyone. We just push them through the door until they come back again.”

Union officials said they organized the walkout to press demands for better pay for social workers and increased staffing at the Department of Public Social Services. Patsy Howard of Local 660 said most DPSS social workers are handling more than 300 cases each, about double the amount stipulated in their now-expired contract.

Howard said 49% of the union’s 8,500 members in the welfare department and the Department of Children’s Services honored the call for the sickout

But Carol Matsui, assistant to welfare director Eddy S. Tanaka, said only 28% of the department’s employees were absent Monday, a figure that included non-union supervisorial personnel.

“Most of the clients have been very understanding and cooperated with our request” that they leave the offices, Matsui said. “We did say we would handle all emergencies. We did not have to close any offices.”

Many people milling about the downtown welfare office on Monday said the wait was only slightly worse than on other “check days.”

“They need more eligibility workers, more supervisors, more everything,” said 27-year-old Keith Jones, who was near the middle of a line of 53 people leading from one window. “And we need more money.”