Critics Incensed by $56 Million "Giveaway" to L.A. Water and Power Workers
As the nation recoiled this week over Republicans' secretive drafting of a mortal U.S. Senate health care bill that would cut insurance coverage for an estimated 22 million Americans, the L.A. City Council took a page from GOP leadership and approved a backroom deal for a majority of Department of Water and Power workers. Before Wednesday's council vote there were no public hearings and essentially zero opportunity for Angelenos to register their thoughts on the deal.
The five-year contract with IBEW Local 18, the union that represents about 9,000 of the city utility's 11,554 employees, will result in pay increases between 13 percent and 22 percent, depending on the rate of inflation. The union's people are the only city workers who don't pitch in for provided health care, and that's not going to change under this deal despite Mayor Eric Garcetti's 2013 campaign vow to overhaul the department and tackle the issue of insurance contributions. The big concession by the union was to kill mysterious DWP training institutes — they were first exposed by L.A. Weekly in 2005 — that cost city taxpayers about $4 million a year.
Three City Council members, Mitch O'Farrell, David Ryu and Mike Bonin, voted against the deal. The 11-3 vote was rare on a council where unanimous moves are the norm. But it was clear the three couldn't handle the utter stank of fast-tracking a huge raise for city workers at a time when L.A.'s working class is feeling so much pain. "At a time when there's a deep distrust of government," Ryu said during yesterday's meeting, "I feel like we're going backwards." "
The vote, he added, "will be highly scrutinized and looked at."
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