1,000 County Workers Call for Better Pay
An estimated 1,000 county employees descended on the Board of Supervisors’ meeting downtown Tuesday morning, demanding raises, improved job security and better benefits when their union contract expires in September.
“What do we want? A fair share!” shouted the army of demonstrators, many of whom were bused in from far-flung reaches of the county.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. March 23, 2000 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday March 23, 2000 Home Edition Metro Part B Page 3 Metro Desk 2 inches; 49 words Type of Material: Correction
County employees--A story and headline in Wednesday’s Times incorrectly stated the position of the Service Employees International Union, Local 660, on a new contract. The union has rejected a Board of Supervisors offer of a 9% raise over three years, but it has not determined what percentage raise it will seek when negotiations begin this summer.
Wearing purple T-shirts and carrying lime green picket signs, the workers blew whistles and marched outside the county Hall of Administration, snaking for a block up West Temple Street.
After the outdoor rally, union workers crammed the 780-seat Hall of Administration auditorium, where Annelle Grajeda, general manager of Service Employees International Union, Local 660, addressed the supervisors, and several union workers also spoke, eliciting raucous applause from the audience.
The board allowed union representatives more than 15 minutes to present their case, although they were not on the agenda. The union seeks a wage increase of more than 10%, as well as improved health care benefits and child-care assistance. Contract negotiations will begin in midsummer.
It was one of the best-attended supervisors’ meetings in recent memory. Once union employees left halfway through the meeting, only a handful of audience members remained.
In her presentation, Grajeda said, “Thousands of county workers have slipped out of the middle class, and they’re living in poverty. In a county with more millionaires than any other county, workers should not be earning salaries that force them to live paycheck to paycheck. Too many 660 members can’t afford to take vacations, can’t afford to send their kids to college, can’t afford to retire.”
She said that more than 60% of the members of Local 660, which represents 45,000 county workers, earn less than $32,000 a year.
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