11,000 Los Angeles City Workers Initiate 24-Hour Strike, Will Picket Overnight At City Hall, LAX Other Locations
07.08.2023 - 19:57
/ deadline.com
Amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, more than 11,000 Los Angeles city workers are initiating a one-day walkout throughout the city today to protest contract negotiations between union officials and city leaders.
The workers plan to picket for 24 hours Tuesday outside City Hall, Los Angeles International Airport and other locations to protest “a refusal to bargain in good faith” — it marks the first such strike action in more than 40 years.
The employees, including sanitation workers, heavy duty mechanics, traffic officers and engineers represented by SEIU Local 721, voted overwhelmingly in May – with 98% approval – to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike if negotiations stalled.
Union officials said the workers will meet at 11 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall for a march and rally, though picket lines will begin as early as 4 a.m. at sites throughout the city.
They won’t be the only ones.
Hundreds of striking hotel workers represented by Unite HERE Local 11 will also picket and rally Downtown at the InterContinental Los Angeles today and announce the filing of an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the hotel industry’s Coordinated Bargaining Group, which represents a majority of LA’s unionized hotel employers, including Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, and Marriott. The group of thousands of cooks, maids, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front-desk agents at 46 Los Angeles area hotels are asking for higher wages and improved benefits and working conditions.
That’s in addition to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA members who will be picketing most of the major studios and streamers each day this week.
“Despite repeated attempts by city workers to engage management in a fair bargaining process, the City has flat-out refused to honor