COUNCIL IMPOSES EAA CONTRACT; STRIKES STILL PROMISED.

Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer

In hopes of averting a strike next week by 8,000 municipal workers, the City Council voted Tuesday to impose a three-year contract that was previously rejected by leaders of the employees' union.

The council's 12-0 vote gives retroactive raises of 4 percent, plus an additional 2.25 percent in January, to the 8,000 members of the Engineers and Architects Association.

But union leaders vowed to follow through on threats of rotating strikes beginning Aug. 22 -- job actions that would impact numerous departments, including Building and Safety, Planning and Airports.

``By the high volume of phone calls and e-mails we are receiving, it is obvious (workers) are eager to engage in the strike activities planned for next week,'' EAA General Manager Bob Aquino said in a statement posted on the union's Web site.

And in a phone interview, Aquino said provisions of the contract were insufficient to avert job actions.

``This is unprecedented,'' he said. ``They are giving us more money and we still will go out on strike.''

He refused to reveal which city agencies will be targeted, but said the strikes will disrupt public services.

However, Mayor Antonio Villaraiogsa promised that the city already is preparing to deal with any strikes.

``We are making plans to make sure there is no disruption in city services,'' said Villaraigosa, who was endorsed by the EAA in last year's mayoral election. ``We think the city's offer is fair and that we are being fair with our employees.''

The EAA had demanded wage parity with the Department of Water and Power, whose workers won a controversial contract last year that gives them 3.25 annually, with the option of a 6 percent increase, based on inflation.

City officials have said the DWP is a proprietary agency that conducts its own labor negotiations, although the City Council must approve its contract. They also say the EAA contract is comparable to those given other city unions representing civilian employees.

The EAA has been working without a contract for two years, and fought for months for an agreement that would put them on par with the DWP, whose members are among the city's highest-paid workers.

After the EAA declared an impasse in negotiations, a fact-finder intervened, and he ruled that the city's final offer was fair and justified.

The DWP contract approved last fall brought promises from Villaraigosa and the council that they would review the process for negotiating the city's labor contracts. Despite concerns that the EAA and other unions would demand comparable benefits, the council and Villaraigosa approved the DWP deal, which had been negotiated when Mayor James Hahn was in office.

City Council President Eric Garcetti said the city is still trying to address wage disparity among the city's unions.

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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