With a strike-authorization vote continuing, the union representing thousands of municipal workers sent a letter signed by 3,000 people to Mayor Eric Garcetti Tuesday, saying employees are “fed up” and urging the city to agree to their contract demands.
“We’re demanding that you (Garcetti) and the City Council see Los Angeles through the eyes of workers and residents and start investing in our communities — before it’s too late,” city employees wrote in the letter that was also sent to Council President Herb Wesson.
There was no immediate response to the letter from the mayor’s office.
The letter was prepared SEIU Local 721, the union that represents tree-trimmers, trash drivers, street repair crews and other city employees. Contract mediation efforts between the city and the union is set to end Wednesday.
“We’re fed up with being asked to do so much with so little, so we’re asking you to bargain in good faith with workers and the community partners and faith leaders who are signing this letter with us to show you how much they need vital city services restored in their communities,” according to the letter.
Workers’ ranks were reduced following the 2008 economic crash and “it’s getting harder and harder for us to do our jobs right,” union officials wrote in the letter.
Tim Butcher, an employee of the Street Services Bureau and a member of the city employee union bargaining team, said the letter “is our latest call to Mayor Garcetti and city officials.”
“We are hopeful that we will reach a fair agreement but we are also getting ready to do whatever it takes to ‘Fix L.A.’ and to protect the good jobs the keep this city running,” he said.
The union members are in the midst of a strike-authorization vote. Last week, some sanitation workers stayed home from work for two days in an action the union said was unsanctioned, delaying trash pickup for many residents.
— City News Service