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 When
Will the Unions Ever Learn?
Donate to Villaraigosa's the campaigner, extort from Villaraigosa
the mayor…
[by Christine
E. Hauser] 8/11/05
In
another case of organized labor interests using their political
clout
to try to help themselves to a huge slice of funds from the
public coffers, a union representing workers from the Department
of Water and Power (DWP) in Los Angeles is trying to extort
a 34 per cent pay increase from the city’s new mayor,
Anthony Villaraigosa. Officials for the DWP explained that
the staggering pay increase is necessary to remain competitive
with other utilities, but admitted they did not research how
their salaries compared with other utilities before recommending
the raises, and acknowledged that the city's utility already
has a higher pay scale for key positions than three of the
four other major utilities in the state.
Contributor
Christine E. Hauser
Christine
E Hauser is Marketing & Communications Director with WECA-IEC [Western
Electrical Contractors Association, Inc.]
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While Villaraigosa
calls the proposed pay increases too extravagant and counter
to his campaign promise to make the city “live
within its means,” the new mayor faces a slippery political
slope on this issue. You see, the union representing the DWP
employees in line for this raise is the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 18, the same group that gave
more than $300,000 to an independent campaign for Villaraigosa
during his bid to defeat former mayor Jim Hahn. This is a
significant test to see if Villaraigosa really is the reform-minded
candidate he claimed to be during his campaign, or if he will
play the same quid pro quo games with union fundraisers that
his predecessors did.
Unfortunately for
Villaraigosa, he is taking on a formidable enemy by trying
to hold off a union campaign contributor ready
to collect on its debt. As Governor Schwarzenegger is learning
right now, getting on the wrong side of organized labor in this
state can make for a brutal ride. If organized labor does not
get what it wants, even if its demands are counter to the public
interest – look out. The griping of an angry ratepayer
is nothing compared to the wrath of a union boss scorned.
With no money in the
city’s budget to accommodate the
proposed pay raise, the money will either come from increased
rates or be added onto future budget deficits. When will the
unions ever learn their lesson? First the city employees union
brought San Diego to the brink of bankruptcy by way of their
bloated pension deal, and now another union threatens to cripple
LA’s utilities structure with a grab at a 34 per cent pay
raise. When will organized labor stop mortgaging the public’s
future for its own gain? And when will politicians stop abusing
their stewardship of public funds to pay back their political
debts? CRO
copyright
2005 Christine E. Hauser
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