Los Angeles: More than 11,000 municipal employees of America's second-largest city Los Angeles (LA) on Tuesday staged a one-day walkout protest over unfair labour practices.
The workers marched through closed downtown streets outside LA’s City Hall tower, banging drums and ringing cowbells while hoisting signs reading 'Striking for Respect'.
"We refuse to accept LA City's bad faith bargaining efforts and repeated labour law violations. We strike today to demand respect and fight for our dignity," Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721, the largest public sector union in Southern California said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
SEIU Local 721, which represents more than 95,000 workers in Southern California, said that its members include people working in hospitals, foster care, mental health, courts, law enforcement, libraries, street services, beach maintenance, sanitation, water treatment, parks services, and watershed management.
"We're proud to join writers, actors, and our countless other Union siblings striking for respect in Los Angeles," the union wrote on X.
This is the first work stoppage of LA employees in more than 40 years.
The walkout disrupted public services large and small. Some public swimming pools were closed for the day, and Trash cans were not emptied, which delayed pickup by one day for the rest of the week.
The disruptions also led to non-emergency 311 call center delays. The city's animal shelters were closed and traffic control officers also were not available for nighttime concerts.
Meanwhile Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass insisted in a statement on Monday that "the City of Los Angeles is not going to shut down".
"My office is implementing a plan ensuring no public safety or housing and homelessness emergency operations are impacted by this action. Like I said over the weekend, the city will always be available to make progress with SEIU 721 and we will continue bargaining in good faith," she added.
With inputs from agencies