SEIU 721’s Strike Impacts County Services While Union Pushes for Bigger Payouts

May 1, 2025 – Yesterday evening, SEIU 721 (a union representing government employees throughout Southern California) wrapped up their two-day strike consisting of more than 55,000 workers.

Picketing, protests in Downtown LA, and sitting in the streets have characterized this union strike over a new labor contract with Los Angeles County. On April 29, the union posted on X celebrating their members’ civil disobedience in illegally blocking a public road, calling it “an act of courage.” Fourteen of the protesters were taken into custody, cited and released.

Those familiar with government union tactics won’t be surprised. SEIU 721 threatened a strike for county employees just months ago in October 2024. The County reached an agreement with the union to avert the strike, after filing a charge saying the strike threat was illegal.

NBC Los Angeles reports that this recent strike impacted “the county’s non-urgent health clinics, public libraries, wildfire clean-up services, trash pick-up and homeless encampment enforcement.” The County warned residents to expect possible delays of “essential and emergency services” by the Department of Medical Examiner due to reduced personnel and work stoppage. The County also reported the temporary closure of some substance use help centers, a pause in HIV and STD testing services, reduced routine inspections of health facilities, and delayed testing at the public health laboratory.

The strike came after a failed round of negotiations with the County over their labor contract, or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The previous MOU expired in March.

The union claims that the County has engaged in “unfair labor practices,” a common allegation when government employers won’t give into everything a union demands. SEIU 721 asserts that the County has “broken labor laws 44 times and counting,” including:

• “Refusal to bargain with union members in good faith” (a regular union refrain)
• “Surveillance and retaliation against SEIU 721 members engaged in union activity”
•  “Restricting union organizers’ access to worksites”
• “Contracting out of SEIU 721-represented positions.”

As of the date of this article, a full list of all 44 violations has not been made public. California Policy Center spoke with a representative of the union, who directed us back to the four-point list.

They further accuse the County of “operating a taxpayer-to-private sector pipeline,” a made-up term to describe a partnership with the private sector. Public-private partnerships are a legal and legitimate way for government entities to provide services and execute functions while saving taxpayers money. But the union complains that “those dollars should be staying in-house.” (The reason being: money spent on private partnerships is money that can’t be used to enrich the union). SEIU 721 belies the County’s contracts with non-profit and for-profit organizations, saying that they are too costly.

But when it comes to getting raises, SEIU 721 conveniently doesn’t seem to care about what’s costly. They say that the County is offering a 0% wage increase, which they will not accept, but don’t offer more specifics beyond that. The last contract negotiation with the County in 2022 resulted in a 12% raise for the union over three years, as well as a one-time $1,275 bonus.

The County cites their $4 billion sexual abuse settlement and $2 billion in wildfire recovery costs. “We are working hard to make sure our labor partners understand the financial reality of our situation,” says County CEO Fresia Davenport.

As of May 1st, we await updates regarding the ongoing negotiations.