LA County doctors and dentists give green light for possible strike

Physicians and dentists working at Los Angeles County-run hospitals and clinics have voted to authorize a possible strike, citing concerns about inadequate benefits and rampant vacancies.

The Union of American Physicians and Dentists represents more than 1,100 county employees in two bargaining units that gave the green light for a walkout after two weeks of voting. The workers authorized a strike in the event that their negotiating committee determined it was necessary, the union said.

The union did not announce strike dates and such an action is not guaranteed to go forward, but the vote brings its members a step closer to a walkout that could affect a range of county facilities — not just the hospitals run by the county. Among the workers represented by the UAPD are psychiatrists working in L.A. County jails, where labor leaders said vacancy rates for such professionals had run as high as 70%.

With so many vacancies, “we cannot provide adequate care to inmates with unmet medical and psychiatric needs,” said Dr. Gary Pedneault, a psychiatrist at a county jail for women, in a statement.

L.A. County-run hospitals are also facing a possible strike by SEIU-United Service Workers West, whose members work for companies contracted by the county to clean and sanitize the public hospitals.

SEIU-USWW said it had notified the county Tuesday that more than 700 environmental services workers could go on strike as soon as Dec. 6. “This is not a decision we take lightly,” the union said in a letter, but “our members can not continue to be treated like a second class in their place of work.”