4 MTA MEMBERS OUT OF UNION TALKS?

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

A tough ethics law will likely force four of the MTA's 13 board members to the sidelines in the current contentious labor negotiations, allowing the transit agency to take a tougher stance in the face of a strike threat.

The four board members who are strong advocates for labor have run into conflict-of-interest questions because they took campaign contributions from MTA unions in recent years.

Under a law passed to stop corruption in MTA construction contracting, they would likely be kept out of the negotiations and barred from voting on some of the new contracts.

If all four - Mayor James Hahn, City Councilmen Antonio Villaraigosa and Martin Ludlow and county Supervisor Gloria Molina - cannot participate, the politics of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority shifts decidedly to the center and could impact the course of the talks, according to officials.

The MTA, which is raising fares in January and is moving to reduce services in the face of state funding cuts, has taken a tough stance on wage and benefits increases, provoking threats of strikes. Two of the three unions in talks are under court-ordered 60-day ``cooling off'' periods to allow for more negotiations.

``Did the unions buy the MTA? That question hasn't been answered yet,'' said MTA board member and county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. ``Last time (during union negotiations) we were able to be united from start to finish. I would hope we would be able to have that same policy and achieve that same teamwork as in the past.''

``It would depend if the persons supported by labor would do what's best for transit riders and taxpayers or they'd be a pawn to the labor organizations.''

The MTA has one of the strictest ethics laws in the nation, forced upon it in 1998 by then-state Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles, and the Legislature after the spending scandals that derailed subway construction.

The law says board members cannot vote on contracts before them if they have taken more than $10 over the past four years in campaign contributions from those participating in the action.

According to campaign finance reports filed with the city's Ethics Commission, Hahn received at least $1,000 from the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents MTA's rail mechanics and service workers. Villaraigosa took at least $2,500 from the ATU's local during his mayoral and council campaigns combined, as well as at least $500 from the bus drivers' United Transportation Union local and $500 from the clerks' Transportation Communications Union. Ludlow got $1,000 from the ATU.

Molina, who had been unaware of her potential conflict until she said she was told about it during last month's board meeting, could not immediately say which contribution raised the question.

All four have been advised about their conflicts, but so far only Hahn has formally withdrawn from the ATU talks.

``It's the law, and it can't be massaged any other way,'' county Supervisor and MTA board member Zev Yaroslavsky said. ``This is not new to us.''

Hahn said he expects his appointees to abide by the rules.

``This is the law,'' said Hahn spokeswoman Juile Wong. ``The mayor's going to follow the law. The other members of the MTA that are appointed by the mayor will also follow the law.''

This summer, Hahn shook up the board, announcing wholesale replacement of his three appointees with councilmen - his one-time mayoral rival Villaraigosa, Ludlow and Tom La Bonge.

The move was seen as shoring up the city's strength on the 13-member board - which includes the four city members, the five county supervisors and four representatives from the county's smaller cities, and has a decidedly left-leaning majority.

Villaraigosa, the former Assembly speaker, is among labor's strongest leaders in Los Angeles, and Ludlow, his former Assembly staff member, rode to office with union support.

During the 32-day MTA strike of 2000, both Villaraigosa and Hahn rallied as then-mayoral candidates to support the drivers.

Villaraigosa, who voted for the Hayden legislation as a state assemblyman, said the law is now having ``unintended consequences.''

``It's going to be very difficult, obviously, to do business,'' he said. ``At the time, a lot of us were concerned about what I called the wild, wild west. It's going to have a real ramification on our ability to do business.''

The MTA faces tough times, having balanced its $2.8 billion budget in the face of state cuts with help from a $10-a-month bus pass hike, eliminating pay raises for noncontract workers and laying off 100 employees.

At the same time, unions are struggling to ensure that wages and health benefits are protected.

Goldy Norton, the consultant to the bus drivers' 4,500-member UTU, declined comment. But ATU President Neil Silver, whose union is fighting to save its health plan from possible bankruptcy, said losing labor-backed candidates is ``disheartening and unfortunate to the riding public.''

``Of course, it's a disappointment. You support the people. They're good people. They get on the board. These are votes that possibly could, definitely, help avert a strike. ... (Villaraigosa and Ludlow) can talk to both sides. It's an avenue that can be used to get your message across.''

ATU officials say medical costs have skyrocketed while the MTA's contribution has remained the same for nearly a decade, jeopardizing the health plan, which is being audited. ATU rail mechanics who earn on average $50,000 and service workers who clean and fuel the buses earn $30,000 pay just $6 monthly for family health benefits. The union says it's willing to increase the cost to $80, if MTA also boosts its share.

``They can afford it; they have the money,'' said Silver. ``They're not spending it on the workers. They'd rather spend it on their subcontractors.''

MTA officials have said the ATU should have taken the offer it made last fall, before the full force of the state's economic troubles hit, when the agency offered a one-year, 2.1 percent raise.

The MTA since has made the ATU three other offers, including the most recent package that includes wage increases of more than 8 percent over four years as well as a gradual increase in health benefits.

``They have the most generous health plan of any public agency around - or private,'' said MTA spokesman Marc Littman. ``If they want to keep that same plan, they've got to make concessions in other areas. ``We're concerned with the bottom-line costs. The fact that we're adjusting fares, we've got some service changes projected - we're doing this because we're in a tough financial spot.''

Some board members said the Hayden law is doing its job, preventing conflicts of interest from affecting MTA decisions.

``Because of the nature of their contributions, there will be some impairment of their ability to function on the board,'' said MTA vice chairman and Lancaster Mayor Frank C. Roberts.

Board member and Duarte Councilman John Fasana doubts the union-backed members would negotiate much differently than the others, and said it's a loss to the board not to have their input.

``I wish the four were in the room. To the extent our pro-union members are there, I think that might help us bridge the credibility the MTA has (with the unions.)''

But Yaroslavsky said he expects the ``battle-hardened'' board that endured the last strike to work for fair contracts with or without the four members.

``Even the most pro-labor member, faced with a decision to take an agency bankrupt or hold firm, will hold firm. We saw that last time,'' he said.

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com