Riverside County public employees stage 24-hour strike

Several thousand Riverside County public employees walked off the job Tuesday to protest the terms of a new labor contract.

Of these thousands, hundreds of the strikers (all from the Service Employees International Union) went on to march against the county headquarters in Riverside, nearly shutting down a meeting of the board of supervisors.

While a few hundred SEIU members in purple T-shirts hoisted picket signs and chanted slogans outside, hundreds more marched inside — all the while chanting, "We are SEIU! We are SEIU!"

The union members packed into the lobby outside the board of supervisors' chambers, temporarily bringing the meeting inside to a halt.

"Ladies and gentlemen," announced Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione, "we’re going to stop the meeting for a while until the deputies control the lobby which means they may have to remove the entire lobby and lock the front doors."

Protestors were allowed to stay in the lobby. The meeting eventually resumed, supervisors struggling to speak above the crowd's roars of "Let us in! Let us in!" just beyond the walls.

Missing from the crowd were dozens of county nurses. On Monday, a judge barred them from taking part in the strike.

Workers are protesting the terms of a new three-year contract imposed by county leaders. The contract includes changes requiring that all employees contribute more each year to their own retirement, on top of previous pay cuts and work furloughs.

The county says it’s trying to avoid layoffs — and close an $80 million budget gap.

"Fine," social worker Crystal Shackelford responds. "I think we all need to take it to save this county. Every single person should share in the burden, then the burden can be a little less."

But, she hastens to add, county supervisors refuse to take similar wage and benefit cuts.

"Our pensions are not going to be those lavish six-figure pensions," says Shackelford. "It’s the Board of Supervisors that get those kinds of pensions, not us! We will hold them accountable and we’re not divided anymore. We’re together and we’re going to show them we can be loud."

Supervisors did promise a 2.5 percent salary increase to most workers. It would take effect next year. Both sides are set to resume contract talks in March. The union says it could call for more work stoppages before then.

Correction: The original version of this story said that picketers walked on a lawn outside the Riverside County Administration Building, while there is no lawn outside the building.