ORANGE COUNTY TEAMSTERS ANNOUNCE STRIKE, WARN OF COUNTY SERVICE DELAYS

465 Teamsters Prepare to Strike on Oct. 13 as County Stalls on New Agreement

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- County of Orange workers, represented by Teamsters Local 952, will be forced to strike Tuesday, October 13, if an agreement for a new contract is not reached. The nearly 500 public sector workers at OC Public Works, OC Waste and Recycling, OC Community Resources, and other county operations provide services for three million residents.

A strike will likely cause delays to road and flood channel maintenance, landfill operations, parks and beach maintenance, repairs to county and first responder vehicles, among other services.

"The county has shown that its priorities are not with the workers who keep Orange County running or the more than three million residents who depend on the services our members provide," said Eric Jimenez, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 952. "We are giving the county every opportunity to come to the table and reach an agreement before Tuesday. If they refuse to deliver a fair contract that values our members, we are prepared to strike."

Longstanding wage disparities have made it increasingly difficult for the county to attract and retain experienced workers, contributing to staffing shortages and increased workloads.

"None of us wanted it to come to this," said Travis Molina, a power equipment operator for OC Public Works. "We want to be at work serving our communities. We want to maintain the roads and repair our channels in preparation for storm season, respond when there is an emergency, and do the work county residents count on us to do. But we also deserve to be valued. We are standing together, and we will stay united until we get a fair contract."

The potential labor dispute also comes after months of bad faith bargaining by the county — which Local 952 has filed unfair labor practice charges over — and after the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to increase supervisors' salaries by 25 percent.

Teamsters Local 952 represents 9,500 workers throughout Orange County, California. For more information, visit teamsters952.org.

Contact:
Christian Castro (323) 621-4602
[email protected]

SOURCE Teamsters Local 952