Thursday, September 2, 2004
Page 2
Superior Court Clerks Picket Again Over Impasse, Plan Rally During Mediation Session
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court clerks, who picketed outside 10 courthouses last week, did so again yesterday to protest stalled contract talks.
Union president Carole Prescott said participation was down slightly from Aug. 25, when she estimated the number of clerks involved in the lunch hour activity at about 180. She attributed the dropoff to the heat.
Prescott said the clerks plan a rally outside the downtown Stanley Mosk Courthouse yesterday during the mediation scheduled over the impasse declared by the court Aug. 6. Whether weekly picketing will continue after that will depend on the outcome of the mediation session, she said.
“We’re just putting it on their mind that we’re not quitting,” Prescott declared. “We want a contract.”
Prescott said last week that the clerks’ local has about 430 members and represents about 800 clerks, who work in courtrooms assisting judges and subordinate judicial officers. She said the court, which employs over 5,000 unionized workers, has agreed to terms with all but one of the other unions.
Issues involved in the impasse include the length of the contract, bonuses and vacation scheduling.
Prescott said the picketing took place at the downtown Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, the Metropolitan Court, and courthouses in Compton, Lancaster, Long Beach, Pomona, San Fernando, Torrance, and Van Nuys, as well as the Mosk Courthouse.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company