HMMMMMM...City Council’s Push to Seal DWP Union Deal Prompts Emergency Meeting for NCs Jack Humphreville WHY AN EMERGENCY MEETING? On Monday evening (Aug 19) at 7 PM, the Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates are holding an emergency meeting at City Hall to discuss the proposed four year contract between our Department of Water and Power and the IBEW, the union that represents over 90% of the Department’s employees. We will also discuss the proposed settlement of the litigation, Romero v. City of Los Angeles, which will dump $200 million of unfunded pension liabilities on the DWP pension system. This will cost Ratepayers an added $25 million a year for the next 15 years, a total of $375 million. This is the equivalent of a new tax on Ratepayers, one which has not been approved by the voters. After 18 months of negotiations, the Herb Wesson City Council, assisted by Paul Krekorian and Felipe Fuentes, the chairs of the Budget & Finance Committee and the Energy & Environment Committee, respectively, are pushing to approve this new contract by August 30. They are claiming that this new contract will save Ratepayers $464 million over the next four years as a result of deferring contracted wage increases over the next three years, the establishment of a new pension tier for new employees, and the establishment of 28 new classes of employees who will be paid on a par with similar classified City employees. Yet, despite the 18 months of negotiations, the City Council waited until the last minute, leaving the Ratepayers, Neighborhood Councils, voters, and the public only two weeks to review and analyze a very complicated labor agreement with a very generous campaign contributor. This is further compounded by the failure of the City to document the $464 million in savings over the next four years and $6 billion over the next 30 years. On Friday, Krekorian and Fuentes held a four hour joint meeting of the Budget & Finance and Energy & Environment Committees to review the new labor contract and the proposed settlement of the pension related litigation. However, this was hardly open and transparent, but rather a one sided presentation that failed to present any argument against this new contract or proposed settlement. Monday night will allow Ratepayers, Neighborhood Councils, voters, and the citizens of Los Angeles to get a better understanding of this very complicated contract which fails to address the DWP’s overly restrictive work rules that cost Ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. It will also be an opportunity to discuss how the IBEW contract will influence negotiations with the other City unions (including the cops and firefighters) which will be “zeroed out” (no raises) over the next four years. Civilian workers are also being asked to forego a contracted 5% raise in January and contribute 10% to the cost of their health care plan. If the City is unable to get these concessions, the budget deficit will balloon to $800 million over the next four years. Ratepayers and Neighborhood Councils need at least 90 days to review and analyze the proposed contract with the IBEW, the proposed settlement involving the dumping of $200 million on the Ratepayers, and the impact on the City’s finances. We also need to get a better understanding of the IBEW’s political clout by demanding that the City prepare an analysis of the IBEW’s political contributions over the last ten years to our elected politicians and ballot measures. We must have open and transparent negotiations, especially in labor negotiations which, in the past, have led to very expensive and fiscally irresponsible contracts that almost broke the City. Do you trust the Herb Wesson led City Council to act in the best interests of the Ratepayers, the Neighborhood Councils, the voters, and the citizens of Los Angeles? Or do you smell a rat? See you on Monday night. ● SEE INFO RELATED TO THIS ISSUE (Jack Humphreville writes LA Watchdog for CityWatch. He is the President of the DWP Advocacy Committee, the Ratepayer Advocate for the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council, and a Neighborhood Council Budget Advocate. Humphreville is the publisher of the Recycler Classifieds -- recycler. He can be reached at: lajack@gmail. Hear Jack every Tuesday morning at 6:20 on McIntyre in the Morning, KABC Radio 790.) -cw CityWatch Pub: Aug 18, 2013
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 21:35:31 +0000
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