Marchers in support of the Los Angeles County union workers demanding better pay were arrested on Tuesday.
Aerial footage from Sky5 shows the purple-clad protesters, who are gathered in downtown Los Angeles after negotiations with the Service Employees International Union Local 721 failed on Monday, were seated in the middle of 5th Street as police officers took them into custody.
It’s unclear exactly how many protesters have been taken into custody and what charges they could face.
“Over a dozen LA County members put their bodies on the line in an act of civil disobedience,” the union wrote on social media. “This is what courage looks like. This is how we demand respect. Loud. Unshakable. Unafraid.”
This is the first time all 55,000 union members are on strike, the Associated Press reports.
Union leaders told the Los Angeles Times that the protests were sparked by “a failure by the county to fairly negotiate a new contract.”
“Clearly, they thought they were above the law. They thought we would never strike,” union head David Green told the Times in a statement. “They thought wrong.”
Marchers are expected again on Thursday for May Day, when protests across the country will target the Trump administration for its actions against immigrants and workers, the union said.
“Under the banner ‘We Make America Work,’ the May Day marches and rallies will bring SEIU member leaders together in a show of solidarity with immigrant communities, while also condemning the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants and working people,” the union said in a news release. “The powerful coalition will raise a unified demand for living wages, safer workplaces, and a future with dignity for all workers.”
