Hundreds of L.A. City workers gathered on the South Lawn of City Hall on Monday to ask City officials to look for alternatives to service cuts, furloughs, and layoffs as fiscal solutions.
The workers claim that elected officials have repeatedly called for more cuts to what they believe is at the “heart of L.A.” public services. The workers suggested cutting unnecessary spending, collecting money from companies that owe the City, and ending expensive private contracts for services that City workers can provide for less money.
Workers Manuel Garcia of the Dept. of Parks and Recreation and Patricia Barker of L.A. Dept. of Transportation talk about the impact of cuts on workers and the community. (Video by Soyoung Kim)
"We didn’t put this city in crisis,” said Patricia Barker, Senior Transportation Investigator for the L.A. Department of Transportation. “The management did. Cuts should come from the top. Leave the workers who run this city alone.”
The spokesperson for council member Ed Reyes said even the council members took cuts.
“They took furlough days. Everybody is feeling the pain from the budget crisis,” spokesperson Tony Perez said.
Front-line service providers, including firefighters, engineers, librarians, trash-truck drivers, and street service crews, held up signs that read we are the heart of L.A., rallying to save public service jobs.
Workers said cutting public service jobs means cutting public services to the residents of Los Angeles and is not the solution to the city’s budget deficit. The workers said they will continue to hold protests until a fair solution is reached.
