“Black and Brown: Essential”

LA County relies on a subcontracted workforce of over 2,000 security officers, janitorial,
environmental and food service workers to keep critical infrastructure like hospitals, clinics,
courts, and juvenile halls running clean, safe and secure.

In this report, Black and Brown: Essential, and Struggling, Los Angeles County’s Subcontracted
Service Workforce Fights for Survival, we explore these essential workers’ struggles to access
affordable employer-paid healthcare and adequate paid time off while trying to stay safe and
healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic and deal with a rising cost of living in LA.
This subcontracted workforce of predominantly Black and Brown workers from neighborhoods
with high poverty rates worked alongside County employees throughout the pandemic while
receiving less pay, less benefits and less protections. They risked their health and that of their
families with possible COVID-19 exposure to keep LA County functioning as the pandemic
ravaged our communities.

Meanwhile, LA County is not ensuring that these contracted essential workers have access to
affordable employer-paid healthcare and adequate wages to deal with the rising cost of living in
Los Angeles.

For these reasons, across LA County contracted essential workers have been calling on the Board
of Supervisors to invest in public contracts that support essential workers, improve contracting
standards and enact policies that allow them access to affordable employer-paid health care and
paid leave benefits.