L.A. Employee Unions Ratify New Contracts

Rank-and-file members of Los Angeles County’s largest employee unions have voted overwhelmingly to ratify new contract terms that shelve overtime pay, salary increases and other benefits for two years.

Results of mail-in ballots cast by members of 14 unions were tabulated late Thursday. Only numbers from the largest of the county’s unions, Service Employees International Union, Local 660, were available Friday. Nearly 4,000 of the 17,000 Local 660 members voted, a record high, union officials said. About 88% voted to approve the pact.

County officials said Friday that the memberships of 13 other unions had also ratified the new contract terms, but could provide no vote totals.

Terms of the agreement, which covers about 70,000 workers, were to take effect Friday. However, the pact must still be approved by the Board of Supervisors, which will take up the settlement Tuesday.

A tentative deal was reached with the aid of a state-appointed mediator Sept. 10, averting a threatened general strike. The county had originally demanded that workers take an 8.25% pay cut and give up some benefits. Savings from the proposed cuts, about $215 million, had already been included in the budget. However, the county backed away from the demand at the last minute.