Riverside, California county workers stage two-day strike
Workers Struggles: The Americas
12 September 2017
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The United States
Riverside, California county workers stage two-day strike
More than 7,000 Riverside County workers in California walked off the job September 7. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents the various custodians, food service, engineers, health care and social service workers, called the two-day strike over unfair labor practices.
An SEIU Local 721 told the media, “This is about labor violations” and “safety issues”. But county administrators, having been able to unload higher health care costs on workers while agreeing to minimal pay increases, now wants to limit wages under the ever-higher cost of living conditions in California. There are also voices demanding that the county end defined pension benefits and increase the use of contracting services to employee cheaper labor in the county.
The strike has also been used by the labor bureaucracy to boost the fall campaigns for Democratic Party candidates for the state governorship, who they allowed to parade on the picket line. In 2016, the SEIU spent more than $14 million to prop up the Democratic Party.
At the same time that Riverside County workers were on strike, the SEIU squelched a possible walkout by 10,000 San Diego County government workers. The SEIU accepted a miserable contract that includes a 13 percent raise spread over 5 years. The settlement pulled the rug out from under workers in Riverside County, leaving their struggle isolated.
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