San Diego, CA – Service Employees International Union Local 221 announced Aug. 29 that the 10,000 San Diego County workers it represents will go on strike Sept. 12-13 unless it reaches a contract agreement before then. The union, which represents almost 60% of the county’s employees, says officials are not negotiating in good faith. It says they have tried to dictate who can be on the union’s negotiating team, rejected the union’s proposals for how to ease understaffing, and gave a “take it or leave it proposal” in April that it has since worsened. Local 221 plans to picket county offices during the two-day walkout, including the Administration Center in downtown San Diego. “I need to see at least 5,000 people out there,” Tracey Carter, president of the union’s county chapter, told the more than 200 people at the meeting where the union voted to strike. Local 221 has not gone on strike in San Diego County since 1994. Read more
