Culver City laid off all 22 lifeguards from The Plunge
Last week, without any public input or discussion, our Parks & Rec Department emailed the lifeguards and swim instructor who work at The Plunge to say they are being laid off and replaced in mid-June by an out of town, for profit company with a troubled history of labor and safety violations. And on Tuesday night, the Culver City Council is being asked to approve a contract for $671,940 with USA Pools of California, a division of USA Management, to begin immediately.
The Plunge is one of the crown jewels of Culver City’s recreation services. Generations of our kids have learned to swim, cooled off during the summer months, and even worked their first job at The Plunge. Seniors congregate for water exercise and to socialize with friends. Lap swim and family swim are widely used by people of all ages. Even our CCUSD water polo and swim teams practice and host meets there. The Plunge is truly Culver City’s community pool.
“I could have moved on for a better salary, but I was committed to working for something that felt like family,” Jonathan Escobedo, pool manager and adult swim instructor told Our Culver.
Jonathan first learned to swim at The Plunge, lives in Culver City, and has worked there for 5 years. Being a lifeguard in his community has been a dream part-time job.
“I appreciate working for the city and interacting with people from different parts of our community, seeing the same faces day after day.”
Jonathan said all the lifeguards feel the same way, which is why they have stayed so long. Aquacade at Fiesta La Ballona is the highlight of their year.
The lifeguards are acutely aware of the staffing shortage. They have been working extra shifts and doing everything possible to keep the pool open. They were told they would be working alongside an outside company, which they thought would help fill in their staffing.
To learn they would be laid off — without a word of thanks — was a shock, to say the least. It’s already so expensive to live in Culver City, and these young people need the pay they earn from their part-time jobs at The Plunge. Although they were told they could apply to work for USA Management, several of the lifeguards who work at The Plunge have already applied and were rejected immediately.
USA Pools of California is not right for Culver City
USA Pools of California is a division of USA Management. The company has a terrible track record and can’t be trusted with such an important community asset. It is a for-profit, Limited Liability Company headquartered in Georgia but incorporated in Nevada.
One city canceled their contract with the company after an audit found multiple reports of wage theft, as well as failure to obtain required liability insurance. The Attorney General of Massachusetts issued multiple citations for the company’s intentional misclassification of employees as independent contractors, failure to pay wages on time, and other labor violations.
We have alternatives to layoffs
Yes, lifeguard staffing at The Plunge needs to improve. It is frustrating for everyone when the pool has to close because of inadequate lifeguard coverage. But we have alternatives that will help us hire local young people as City employees who are invested in our community. PRCS management should work with the staff and lifeguards to identify what we could implement with their help.
And our current lifeguards have ideas! Jonathan has personally reached out to the Venice High School water polo teams and obtained interest from 10 students to take the certification course. The pool coordinator recently got her Lifeguard Instructor certification and worked with 8 Culver City swimmers who passed the Red Cross Lifeguard Certification course. Training-to-hire programs, recruitment bonuses, and opportunities for advancement have all shown success in hard-to-fill situations. Why couldn’t a pool staffing company be used to fill vacant lifeguard shifts without laying off current staff?
Our community deserves to be heard on this
We can’t let the City Council vote to approve the USA Pools contract on Tuesday. Improving staffing at The Plunge deserves a full conversation with creative input from the community. There must be a real exploration of other solutions before laying off the entire lifeguard and instructor team.
Send a message to City Council to hold off on laying off our lifeguards and swim instructors. Let us find a better way to keep our Plunge truly a community pool.
Speak out alongside The Plunge lifeguards and instructors on Tuesday, May 27
A lifeguard shared with us this flyer. They are planning to speak in person at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 27 @ 7pm. If you want to lend your voice, click this link to register to speak on Consent Item C-9.
You can join in person Tuesday @ 7pm at 9770 Culver Blvd in the Mike Balkman Council Chambers.
OR, you can speak virtually by clicking this link on Tuesday @ 7pm.