COUNTY, UNION NEGOTIATE INTO NIGHT.Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer Negotiations continued late into the night Tuesday between Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County and its largest union, which announced that members are ready to begin a series of rolling strikes until they gain pay raises for 40,000 county employees the union represents. ``We are ready to settle this contract tonight, but we're also ready to strike if we can't settle,'' said Steve Weingarten, a union spokesman. The contracts of Service Employees International Union Local 660 with the county expired Tuesday night and the union planned a series of rolling strikes through the end of the week and Monday. The first workers considering a strike today are employees of the Department of Public Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales , the Department of Children and Family Services, and the Department of Public Works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. . Among the sites expected to be picketed is the North Hollywood family services office at 12021 Chandler Chandler, city (1990 pop. 90,533), Maricopa co., S central Ariz., in the Salt River valley; inc. 1920. It is both a residential community and a center for research and technology. Tourism is also important, and the San Marcos Golf Resort is in Chandler. Blvd. If the union does not cut a deal with the county by Tuesday, union leaders, said they will call for a general strike. Union officials say employees they represent have gone without raises for three to five years because of the county's massive budget crisis. Now that the county's budget picture has improved, employees are demanding raises of 6 percent to 8 percent. The county's initial offer was for 1.5 percent raises in each of the next three years. In a separate battle, Los Angeles County's 2,600 children's social workers began a three-day strike Tuesday, after negotiators failed to reach agreement on how many cases workers should be assigned as·sign tr.v. as·signed, as·sign·ing, as·signs 1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection. 2. , a union spokeswoman said. David Janssen, the county's chief administrative officer A chief administrative officer (CAO) is responsible for administrative management of private, public or governmental corporations. The CAO is one of the highest ranking members of an organization, managing daily operations and usually reporting directly to the chief executive , said he believes the county ``has gone a long way'' toward resolving the issue. ``We added over 300 positions and several million dollars this year,'' Janssen said. The board approved the new hires in July, but Peter Digre, director of the family services department, said many of the slots have not been filled. ``Even if we had 200 new (children's social) workers today, it wouldn't do it,'' he said. Digre said new hires must complete a six-week training course. Then there is a six- to eight-month lag before they carry a full caseload case·load n. The number of cases handled in a given period, as by an attorney or by a clinic or social services agency. caseload Noun . |
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