Working too hard? Not enough time off? Spread too thin?
Blame the mayor!
As the peak summer season bears down on us, many DWP units are extremely shorthanded. Key functions are being performed on overtime, and existing staffs are strained to their upper limits.
Local 18 came up with a solution to the staffing crunch that would have helped management, the union, the work force and the retirees, but it was killed by the mayor’s petty vindictiveness and the illegal collusion of the DWP Board of Commissioners.
Our solution, in keeping with an initiative promoted by IBEW international leadership, was to run a temporary worker dispatch out of the union hall. Under an agreement worked out with the city attorney and endorsed by DWP management, retirees could make themselves available for temporary work through the union. Local 18 would also dispatch daily rate exempt workers, mostly laborers and craft workers who are represented by the Building Trades Council. I assured the Building Trades that we would guarantee 100% union work, with pension contributions collected and forwarded to the various union funds. For controlling the dispatch, we would charge a one per cent fee.
This plan would have enabled us to meet the summer demands on the system safely and efficiently. The union was for it; management was for it. What happened? The answer is tied to two issues: The mayor’s campaign to amend the city charter, and the long-standing jurisdictional disputes between unions representing public sector workers.
The proposed charter amendment, which was approved by the voters of Los Angeles, will concentrate even more power in the office of the mayor and make the city less democratic. We opposed it. The carpenters, who opposed our temporary dispatch plan because they wanted to retain jurisdiction over their members, went along with the mayor on charter reform.
Fact: We reached an agreement with the city attorney to run the temporary worker dispatch for the DWP.
Fact: That agreement was negated by LADWP Board of Commissioners President Rick Caruso. Does this sound familiar? As you may remember, last month I reported that Caruso overturned an agreement we reached over CIGNA Health Care. As in that instance, his action in this matter is illegal, unwise and unfair. We are challenging it with an Unfair Employee Relations Practice claim, and we are confident that it will be overturned, but not in time to help us out in the summer crunch.
Conjecture: Mayor Riordan pressured his man Caruso to stab us in the back as punishment for our opposition to the mayor’s pet project of charter reform. The trouble is, not only is the mayor punishing us, he’s punishing the department and the people of Los Angeles as well.
Expect more of this kind of nonsense thanks to the new charter.
GOOD NEWS LAST MONTH in our effort to overturn the compromised Retirement Board elections and win new elections and true representation. On a technical issue (quo warranto is the legal term) the city sought to derail our suit. Their motion was denied in Superior Court, and the case is proceeding to the discovery phase. We are hopeful that the court will order a new election and that we will elect a Retirement Board on which the interests of the rank and file worker are truly represented.
WE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT General Manager David Freeman’s efforts to build a significant Green Power program in Los Angeles. Freeman plans to have 25 electric buses on line for the Democratic Convention next summer. Maintaining this fleet will be a new opportunity for our members. Another focus emerging from Freeman’s Green Power initiative is to upgrade the in-basin generating plants to make them more efficient, competitive and environmentally responsible. This too is good news for our members as well as for the city we serve.
IT WAS GOOD TO SEE all the members with their families at the Annual Picnic. Griffith Park is the largest city park in the country, just as the DWP is the largest public utility. Both represent a commitment to the public good that is one of the cornerstones of society. This is an association we can be proud of.
In Unity,
BRIAN D’ARCY, Business Manager