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On Nov. 1, around 200 SEIU 721 members and allies with ReFund LA Coalition, marched from the headquarters of real estate giant Brookfield Office Properties up to LA County CEO Bill Fujioka’s office. The demand: stand with our communities and make corporations pay their fair share of property taxes.
Brookfield just became the largest property owner in LA. It used a tax loophole that could cheat LA County out of $10 million a year.
At Brookfield, activists marched inside the building holding signs, while more than 100 people held a rally on the front steps. Speakers included SEIU 721 members, high school and college students, and teachers and parents.
“Ten million dollars would make a huge difference to LA County’s children. The County could hire more social workers and provide better help to the most vunerable kids in our communities. … This issue isn’t just about corporate greed. It’s also about community need.”
-David Green, SEIU 721 Treasurer
After the rally, the crowd marched through the streets of downtown and up to the seventh floor of the Hall of Administration where they demanded to speak to Fujioka. His staff first said he wasn’t in the building. Then, after the crowd staged a sit-in, Fujioka was forced to come out and talk to everyone. He said that he agreed with the message of closing the corporate tax loophole.
Because of SEIU 721’s and ReFund LA’s continued actions on this issue, Brookfield’s spokesperson told the LA Times that it “will file documents with the state Board of Equalization that will trigger a reassessment.”
LA County workers are more committed than ever to closing the corporate tax loophole. It has been a main one of their “common good” contract proposals from the beginning. Workers want County leadership to go on record supporting an end to the loophole and to take concrete steps in that direction.
Read the LA Times coverage here.
Download a flyer to post at your worksite here.