COUNTY WORKERS TO WALK OFF JOBS 1-DAY STRIKES MAY BUILD TOWARD HOSPITAL CLOSURES.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer More than 47,000 county employees plan to conduct a series of one-day strikes Monday that will escalate es·ca·late v. es·ca·lat·ed, es·ca·lat·ing, es·ca·lates v.tr. To increase, enlarge, or intensify: escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf. v.intr. to closures of county hospitals and on Oct. 11 a total shutdown shut·down n. A cessation of operations or activity, as at a factory. shutdown Noun the closing of a factory, shop, or other business Verb shut down of county offices unless a new labor agreement is reached, union leaders said Wednesday. With a countywide coun·ty·wide adv. & adj. Throughout a whole county: found at locations countywide; a countywide search. Adj. 1. transit strike now in its 13th day, the threat of a second walkout - involving county doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, social service workers, clerical employees and others - put new pressure on negotiators as they begin around-the-clock talks today at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel The Westin Bonaventure Hotel is the largest hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is 367 feet (112 meters) tall and has 35 floors. It was completed in 1977. The top floor has a revolving restaurant and observation level. downtown. Negotiations have been under way for months. ``We want to reach a settlement with the Board of Supervisors but if the board refuses to provide our members with a fair share, then we will call a strike,'' said Annelle Grajeda, general manager of Service Employees International Union Local 660. Workers want at least a 15.5 percent raise over the next three years, but the county is offering 9 percent. The union also objects to a proposal for employees to make $10 to $15 copayments for doctor visits and $10 for filling a prescription. In addition to Local 660, other unions representing county employees are also threatening to go on strike. 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 county officials hope a settlement can be reached but have contingency plans A plan involving suitable backups, immediate actions and longer term measures for responding to computer emergencies such as attacks or accidental disasters. Contingency plans are part of business resumption planning. in case of a strike. ``Although employees have a right to strike, we also have a right to protect the health and safety of the public,'' Janssen said. ``We won't allow them to disrupt health care for our citizens.'' Janssen said county ordinances require the unions to go through mediation mediation, in law, type of intervention in which the disputing parties accept the offer of a third party to recommend a solution for their controversy. Mediation has long been a part of international law, frequently involving the use of an international commission, fact-finding procedures before striking. The county has the option to file a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A preliminary injunction is regarded as extraordinary relief. to stop the strike. ``They clearly will not have done that by Monday,'' he said. The strike plan calls for one-day departmental strikes beginning Monday with Local 660 employees who work at the Office of the Registrar-Recorder and the Animal Control Department. Work stoppages would affect services in the following days at the other departments, including county hospitals. ``We are starting by striking one hospital at a time, which gives the county the ability to move patients,'' said Bart Diener, assistant general manager of Local 660. |
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