Thousands of Los Angeles city workers took to the picket lines on Tuesday for a massive one-day strike that could hamper services across the city.

At Los Angeles International Airport, where at least 1,000 union members work, dozens of strikers marched before dawn. Most were mechanics and custodians.

If we don’t get it, stop it, the workers chanted.

Service Employees International Union Local 721, representing 7,000 city workers, began the strike at 12:01 a.m., the first major strike by City of Los Angeles officials in more than a decade.

The strike will bring workers from various city departments, lifeguards, traffic cops, airport managers, engineers and sanitation workers to the picket lines. Union leaders say dozens of places across the city, including LAX, the Port of Los Angeles and City Hall, will face strikes by union members over what they say is the city’s unfair labor practices.

ARE

P

resident David Green said members

Are

frustrated by the large number of vacancies at city services

who have , who left employees

forced

staff

to work long hours.

It’s more work for less money, said Ana Altamirano, a 60-year-old

airport

concierge.

Altamirano, who serves in the cemetery, normally scrubs toilets and polishes floors in the terminals.

She came out to strike, she said, as she and her colleagues have seen their workloads double since COVID-19

arrived

. During the pandemic, when the airport was close by

ly

empty, custodians were asked to cover more ground. As travelers poured back in as the pandemic subsided, there were no longer enough custodians to keep the terminals tidy, she said.

Another airport custodian, Hilda Sotelo, 49, said the sprawling terminals once had double the number of cleaning staff. Last year, 66 million passengers passed through the airport the most since the pandemic.

There isn’t enough time to do the work,” said Sotelo, who has worked for the city for 20 years.

Sotelo said she and her colleagues are stressed as they run from bathroom to bathroom to keep them clean. When they’re on a break, she said, passengers greet them for directions or other information.

We do the work of three people, she said.

Other workers who protested on Tuesday said their wages had not kept up with how much it costs to live in the region.

Joe Martinez, a 52

–

a year-old construction equipment service employee at LAX, said his commute

S

to work from West Covina could take more than 90 minutes because he can’t afford a home in Los Angeles. He said he made $60,000 half way through.

He counts himself lucky. Many of his colleagues live even further away, in suburbs like Moreno Valley.

We want to gain respect from the city to get back to the negotiating table, said Martinez, who has worked for the city for eight years. Our biggest problem is the cost of living.

The early

–

The morning march caused little disruption to the airport as travelers were misled

in to

the ticket counters in the international terminal. Traffic in the notoriously busy horseshoe drop-off areas continued

dripping movement

Through.

Dae Levine, a Los Angeles World Airports spokesperson, said LAX is working to ensure operations continue as normally as possible, but recommended passengers arrive earlier than usual for their flights.

Airport security will be manned as

normally usual

, However. The union has given

LAX permission to cross the picket line to the

security guards

at LAX permission to cross the picket line.