Meanwhile, the 47,000 Los Angeles County workers, organized by Local 660 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), began what they call rolling strikes. "They're fighting for the same things we are," David, a bus driver with one year's service, said of the county workers. "That's why some of them were with us at our rally last week at city hall."

Every day since October 3, different departments of the county workers have been picketing their workplaces, pressing for a pay raise. The county workers include nurses and others on staff at several large hospitals and medical centers, workers at the public library, and workers at the civic center, beaches, and harbors, among others.

Union leaders announced that a strike of all county workers would take place October 11 if no settlement has been reached in contract negotiations. The Joint Council of Interns and Residents, another county union, joined members of SEIU Local 660 on the picket lines to protest staffing shortages that sometimes leave interns with 120-hour workweeks.  
 
Mechanics refuse to cross picket lines
An important development in the MTA strike came when more than 1,800 mechanics employed by the transportation authority decided to continue to honor the picket lines despite their union president's urging that they return to work. Drivers have been joined on the picket lines not only by mechanics but by clerks and custodians. Unions representing the mechanics, clerks, and custodians are also currently in contract negotiations.

Neil Silver, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), which represents the mechanics, held a press conference October 2 to announce that he was "recommending" that mechanics cross the picket lines of the bus drivers, who are organized by the United Transportation Union. Silver said the union would reevaluate its position after seven days, a period he called a "cooling-off period."

But the next day, only eight of the ATU's 1,860 mechanics crossed the picket lines. Mechanics joined bus drivers in larger numbers than usual on picket lines early that morning and were able to convince several other mechanics who showed up to work to change their minds.

"We've been told for years you never cross a picket line, so I am here to support the drivers," said Edward Rivera, an MTA mechanic for 16 years. "Without us they won't get a contract, and without them, we won't get one," another mechanic told the Militant. "This is what unity and union solidarity is supposed to be about," he said. "Neil Silver did what he had to do, and we are doing what we have to do," said another mechanic.

Bus drivers applauded the mechanics. Said one driver on a downtown picket line, "The tree has been split apart, but the roots run deep and are as healthy as ever." Christian Velasquez, a construction worker and bus rider who stopped by the picket line at San Pedro and 16th Streets in downtown Los Angeles to offer his solidarity, said of the mechanics and drivers, "I was so glad to hear when the mechanics didn't go back. They started this together and it's important that they finish it together."

The mechanics' action shed light on the biased reporting on the strike by the big-business Los Angeles Times. On October 3 a front-page article with a large headline announced, "Two Unions Split With Striking MTA Drivers." The article asserted, "The Metropolitan Transit Authority's supervisors and mechanics broke with striking bus drivers Monday and announced that they will return to work today. It was not immediately clear whether the two groups' return to work will allow the transit agency to resume at least reduced bus and Metro Rail service." A number of supervisors, organized by the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees, did return to work, although an AFSCME union official insisted no supervisor would drive a bus during the strike.

The Times article continued, "Zev Yaroslavsky, a member of the MTA governing board, called the action by the breakaway unions 'a very healthy development.' He and others said they hope drivers will also return to work."

When the mechanics continued to stand with their brothers and sisters in the bus drivers union, the Times relegated this news from the front page to the Metro section.

Meanwhile, 2,500 UTU drivers voted "no" at a mass meeting held to decide whether to return to work while contract negotiations continue. The UTU represents 4,400 bus operators. Gov. Gray Davis asked the drivers to call off their strike after he signed a bill on September 30 that requires the owners of privatized sections of the MTA system to recognize union contracts honored by the MTA. The county board of supervisors made the same request days earlier.

As the transit workers and county workers wage their strikes, other workers in the area are pressing their demands as well. About 150 longshore workers protested safety and working conditions October 5 at a Port of Los Angeles coal terminal. Members and supporters of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) demonstrated for several hours outside the port facility that handles shipments of coal and petroleum coke. Workers protested a number of serious accidents that have happened at the location since it opened in 1997. One worker was killed and another paralyzed in 1998 when a conveyor collapsed. Just last month, workers explained, Keith Rowell, a heavy equipment operator, narrowly escaped injury as his bulldozer plunged 50 feet when a cavity opened up in petroleum coke beneath his rig.

"I was lucky I wasn't buried," Rowell told those at the protest, "because there is no plan to get someone out if they are. We need better safety plans and communication to get things done." ILWU Local 13, which represents 35 workers at the site, has been negotiating a contract since April with the terminal's operator, Savage Pacific Services.

Robert Reyna contributed to this article.