CITY, EMPLOYEES UNION BRACE FOR STRIKE ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS ASSOCIATION PICKETS TO WALK TUESDAY.

Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer

Los Angeles officials began final preparations Friday for a strike next week of city employees -- the first in 14 years.

The Engineers and Architects Association, which represents 8,000 workers across a variety of city agencies, is scheduled to begin revolving pickets Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city officials said they are working to ensure that vital public services continue uninterrupted. And they said they plan to go to court to protect operations at Los Angeles International Airport, the Port of Los Angeles and in the city Sanitation Bureau.

Villaraigosa, who has been involved in unions since he was 16, said if the work action proceeds next week it will be the first time he will cross a picket line.

And he said the city has done all it can to avert a strike.

``Look, I have been involved and resolved many strikes,'' Villaraigosa said. ``That's why this is so exasperating. We have made a fair offer to the EAA. We believe in paying good wages and this is a good offer we have made to them.''

EAA General Manager Bob Aquino said his attorneys are prepared to respond to any court action sought by the city.

``We find it funny that the mayor now admits how important our workers are,'' Aquino said. ``We wish he had spent as much time dealing with this as he has with trying to take on the Los Angeles Unified School District and maybe we wouldn't be at this point.''

Aquino said the union will be working through the weekend to prepare for next week's job action and he believes other city workers will respect the picket lines.

The mayor said his primary concern is public safety and that steps have been taken to ensure that managers can fill key positions.

City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka said his office has been coordinating the response and has managers in each city department prepared to take over any job.

Of particular emphasis have been the airport, harbor and water and power departments. Special instructions also are being given to the Los Angeles Police Department, General Services Police, Airport Police and other agencies where pickets could be held.

The EAA has not said which city agencies will be struck first, but pickets are expected outside City Hall and the Marvin Braude Constituent Services Center in Van Nuys.

Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who is president pro tem of the council, said she will be monitoring the situation. The council is scheduled to be in recess but Greuel said she would call it back if needed.

It remains unclear how much support the work action will get from other unions.

Julie Butcher, general manager of SEIU, Local 347, which represents some 10,000 city workers, has sent a letter reminding its members that they are prohibited from advocating a strike.

``What we tell our members is the decision to cross a picket line is an individual choice,'' Butcher said.

The EAA has sent a letter to its members outlining ``picket line etiquette'' and telling workers to remain marching and have an ``upbeat, cheerful and animated mood showing enthusiasm'' for the work action.

It notes pickets should not make direct threats to people who cross the picket lines, but said they ``should no longer be polite. You should call them what they are at that point, a scab, and any other derogatory term you feel appropriate to use for an individual who is taking wages from you and your family.''

The two-year old dispute is over a four-year contract offer that was accepted by other city unions. It provided for no increase the first year, but raises of 2 percent in each of the next two years and 2.25 percent the final year.

EAA has said it wants the same five-year, 3.25-percent-a-year increase that was given Department of Water and Power workers last year.

Los Angeles' last public employee strike was a nine-day walkout in 1993 by DWP workers. Police officers threatened a work slowdown in 1994 but were able to resolve their contract.

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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