STRIKESVILLE USA! COUNTY WORKERS PLAN ROLLING WALKOUTS MONDAY; ACTION FOLLOWS IN STEPS OF MTA, TEACHERS, ACTORS.Byline: Rick Orlov and Alexa Haussler Staff Writers The battle over public services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. vs. public employee salaries in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. escalated Friday as county labor unions broke off contract talks and were set to launch a campaign of rolling strikes Monday. The walkouts by 47,000 county workers - intended to close hospitals, clinics, libraries, administrative offices, welfare services and other departments in a series of job actions - comes on top of a 2-week-old strike by transit unions that has halted virtually all Metropolitan Transportation Authority trains and buses. Teachers union leaders in the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. have rejected 20 percent raises over three years and, on Thursday, members of the 43,000-strong union overwhelming voted to authorize a strike if the district doesn't come up with more money. Even beyond the public sector, actors in commercials have been on strike for five months and a strike looms next spring by all Hollywood writers and actors as the increasingly militant labor movement in Los Angeles flexes its new-found muscles. ``You see unions trying to get a share of a pot that might not be there,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. ``And the ones who end up paying are users - such as bus riders with higher fares - and taxpayers.'' Increasingly, the tension has fractured long-term relations between labor and its governmental allies, most of whom strongly backed the recent janitors strike. The rift is most noticeable on the county Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. , where Democrats Zev Yaroslavsky Zev Yaroslavsky (born December 21, 1948) is a Los Angeles County politician. He served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1975 until 1994, when he was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He was preceded in both offices by Edmund D. Edelman. , Gloria Molina Gloria Molina is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the current chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.[1] Molina grew up as one of ten children in the Los Angeles suburb of Pico Rivera, California, U.S. and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke have sided with conservatives Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San and Don Knabe Donald R. Knabe (born October 15, 1943 in Illinois) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, serving the Fourth District, a crescent shaped district that covers the coastline from Marina Del Rey southward to Long Beach, and southeastern Los Angeles County to in resisting transit union pressure. Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. , a Republican who has supported labor in recent years, also has taken a stand against the transit union demands as the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. projects a $438 million deficit in the next decade unless it controls costs, and cites the need to improve services by creating regional transit zones. ``I never thought I would see the day that Gloria Molina, Mike Antonovich and I would be working together,'' said Yaroslavsky. ``And that we would be working with (Mayor) Dick Riordan and all take the same position. ``It should signal something to the people of Los Angeles and union leaders what this strike and the threats have done to the political leadership of the city and the county. We have put exceedingly fair offers on the table. You have to ask: When is enough enough? ``Last year, we led the way for creation of the largest public union ever with home care workers. We gave a living wage and other things the unions wanted. How much is enough?'' Even as elected officials argue that revenue growth has not been strong enough to grant raises beyond inflation increases to employees without cutting services or raising taxes and fees, the unions say the economic boom has yet to trickle down Trickle down An economic theory that the support of businesses that allows them to flourish will eventually benefit middle- and lower-income people, in the form of increased economic activity and reduced unemployment. to workers. At the forefront of labor's militancy is the Service Employees International Union, the nation's fastest growing union, which argues that workers deserve more in the face of surging corporate profits and salaries. ``When the hits were going to get taken, workers took their share of the pain, and now that there are gains, I think workers are entitled to their share of the gain,'' said Julie Butcher, general manager of SEIU SEIU Service Employees International Union SEIU Special Education Intake Unit SEIU Secondary Education Interdisciplinary Unit SEIU Software Engineering Institute Union Local 347, which represents much of the city work force. ``And I don't think we are seeing that happening. When bus drivers need to earn overtime to wave at the middle class, something's wrong.'' City contracts come up next year, and could provide another battleground with neighborhood and community leaders sharply critical of the quality of services. Butcher said she believes political leaders should learn from the current strife and avoid further clashes, but Kyser warns there could be a backlash once officials' positions harden. ``I think once the MTA strike is over, you will see a lot of riders not coming back,'' Kyser said. ``And you also are seeing damaged relations between union leaders and some of their traditional supporters - damages that might not be repaired for some time.'' Neil Sacharow, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said labor officials will have to work hard to re-establish relationships. ``We will have to work it out later,'' Sacharow said. ``What's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. now is there has been a shift in the sociopolitical so·ci·o·po·li·ti·cal adj. Involving both social and political factors. sociopolitical Adjective of or involving political and social factors landscape. We recognize how hard this has been on the public and regret it, but our people also are feeling alienated. The rolling strike threat by county unions, driven by the SEIU, coming on the heels of the MTA strike has hardened the position of county officials who successfully negotiated new contracts with one-third of their workers. ``We're not that far apart, but the difference may be insurmountable,'' said David Janssen, the county's chief administrative officer A chief administrative officer (CAO) is responsible for administrative management of private, public or governmental corporations. The CAO is one of the highest ranking members of an organization, managing daily operations and usually reporting directly to the chief executive . ``We are offering 9 percent for this contract coming off on where we doubled the inflation rate and are improving health and retirement benefits. We know this is a good offer because it's already been accepted by one-third of our employees, including the sheriffs and firefighters.'' Janssen said he believes the county has offered all it can afford, particularly with the state taking some $400 million in county money every year and its need for bailout funding from the federal government to provide health care. ``We don't have the surpluses of the state or federal governments. And in a couple of years, we are looking at another shortfall at our hospitals.'' At the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) , Superintendent Roy Romer said he remains confident an agreement can be reached in the next month. ``We continue to negotiate with the union in good faith and are hopeful of a contract by Nov. 1,'' Romer said. ``We weren't surprised by the strike vote and had fully expected that to reflect the desires of the teachers.'' More than 95 percent of the LAUSD's teachers authorized a strike later this year if talks break down. UTLA UTLA United Teachers of Los Angeles (California) spokesman Steve Blazak said the union is scaling back its talks in public about what teachers want. ``I can tell you we expect it to be a significant double-digit increase,'' Blazak said. ``When we were talking 15 percent for this year, that was to bring teachers up to the medium level of pay. ``And if the district continues their tactics and this is their last offer, as (UTLA President) Day Higuchi said, the next talks will be on the picket line.'' County Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack said her office is preparing for the worst Monday as one of the first county agencies being targeted for the work action while it gets ready for the Nov. 7 election. ``We are at the peak of our election operations, assembling voting equipment to go to the 5,000 voting precincts,'' McCormack said. ``Fully 95 percent of our workers are union, and it will be a major impact on our ability to deliver service.'' McCormack said she has notified title companies that on Monday, the county will not be able to record any of the up to 6,000 documents received each day. She said her agency also will not be able to process any wedding, birth or death certificates. COMMERCIAL ACTORS How many: 135,000 At issue: How to pay actors in commercials on cable television and the Internet. Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) is a performers' union that represents a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists (both royalty have been on strike since May against ad makers. ON STRIKE TRANSIT WORKERS How many: 6,700 At issue: The Valley Transit Zone and overtime pay. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants to control costs by restructuring pay and allowing the cost-effective zone. United Transportation Union, representing more than 4,300 bus and rail operators, is on strike against the MTA. The UTU Noun 1. Utu - sun god; counterpart of Akkadian Shamash Utug Sumer - an area in the southern region of Babylonia in present-day Iraq; site of the Sumerian civilization of city-states that flowered during the third millennium BC picket lines are being honored by MTA mechanics and maintenance workers in the Amalgamated Transit Union The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is a labor union in the United States and Canada, representing workers in the transit system and other industries. The ATU was founded in 1892, and today has more than 180,000 members in more than 273 local unions in 46 states and 9 , and MTA clerical workers. ON STRIKE COUNTY WORKERS How many: 47,000 At issue: Pay raises. Service Employees International Union, Local 660, representing employees of the County of Los Angeles, on Monday will begin one-day strikes of various county offices. A general strike is planned in the second week of October. STRIKE STARTS MONDAY TEACHERS How many: 43,000 At issue: Pay raises. United Teachers Los Angeles, whose members include teachers, counselors, nurses and other school workers, voted this week to authorize a strike against the Los Angeles Unified School District if contract talks break off. STRIKE AUTHORIZED CAPTION(S): photo, 4 boxes Photo: (color) Striking Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers demonstrate outside Mayor Richard Riordan's office Friday. See Page 19 Tina Burch/Staff Photographer Box: (1) COMMERCIAL ACTORS (See text) (2) TRANSIT WORKERS (See text) (3) COUNTY WORKERS (See text) (4) TEACHERS (See text) |
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