4,500 STRIKE AT COUNTY FACILITIES.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

More than 4,500 Los Angeles County workers walked off the job Wednesday, with no future negotiations scheduled and only a few days remaining until the workers' unions say they will start an unprecedented countywide strike.

One-day rolling strikes today will target all but emergency services at some health facilities, including Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center, the Southwest Cluster Health Centers and various mental health centers around the county. Additional medical facilities will be targeted on Friday, and beach and harbor services on Saturday.

The one-day actions are meant to put pressure on the county just days before a possible countywide strike that could jeopardize the county's ability to conduct election activities in November, among other things.

County officials say they will seek a court action blocking walkouts at the hospitals if they feel that public safety is in danger, and have warned patients to reschedule appointments.

Both the county and the Service Employees International Union, Local 660, which represents some 47,000 county workers, have not resumed contract talks since Friday, a day before the three-year labor contracts expired.

David Janssen, the county's chief administrative officer, said Wednesday the county is willing to come back to the table to compromise on some issues, but will not back down on a 9 percent pay hike proposal over the next three years, despite the union's demand for 15.5 percent.

``It's ridiculous that the county is drawing lines in the sand and telling us they won't negotiate until we stop striking,'' said SEIU spokesman Mark Tarnawsky. ``This is not good-faith bargaining.''

He said the union would continue to be adamant about its pay demand, with more than 14,000 of its members earning less than $1,800 per month.

County workers hope to pick some financial fruit from the money tree created by this year's $13 billion state budget surplus. But county officials say Los Angeles is facing a $500 million deficit over the next six years because of state laws requiring the transfer of property tax revenues to the state.

On Wednesday, strike actions had a widespread impact at various facilities around the county. At least 70 of the county's 83 libraries were closed, and thousands of workers in the District Attorney's Office, jails, Public Defender's Office and the Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office, among others, spent the day on picket lines instead of work, said county spokeswoman Judy Hammond.

She said the county had filed an illegal labor practice claim over the union walkouts with the Employee Relations Commission, which will consider the complaint Tuesday.