LOS ANGELES, CA – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously this week to support a proposal by Supervisor Hilda L. Solis to identify whether or not to require County contractors to provide employer-paid health care for their employees.
“We must look at exploring health care coverage for our contracted employees, many of whom are Black and Latino, who are assigned to hospitals and clinics within the Department of Health Services. Their work is critical to the security, safety, and day-to-day operations of our facilities,” said Supervisor Solis.
The motion directs the Director of the Department of Health Services (DHS) to report back to the Board with the following costs estimates in 90 days on the feasibility to require contracted employers to provide contracted security officers, janitorial and environmental clean-up, and food service workers who work at DHS’ hospitals and clinics with healthcare at the level of the Affordable Care Act Gold Plan Individual Coverage. Additionally, the motion requests an assessment of whether or not there is a pay equity issue between contacted employees who are assigned to DHS facilities from those who are assigned to non-County facilities and provides recommendations to address it.
“For far too long, Black and Brown workers who perform essential functions for Los Angeles County have had to endure the indignity of working in medical facilities without having access to affordable healthcare. With this motion, the Board of Supervisors can begin righting this healthcare injustice that plagues too many contracted workers in Los Angeles County. We thank Supervisor Solis for moving this motion, and we look forward to achieving this goal of affordable healthcare for all contracted workers as quickly as possible,” said David Huerta, President of the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW).
Read the full motion here.
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