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L.A. rally backs bailout for Big 3

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Lopez is a Times staff writer.

Willie Rodriguez had two choice tickets to the USC-UCLA football game Saturday, but he passed on it to join scores of union workers at a rally to voice support for a government bailout plan to keep the auto industry afloat.

About 200 people, many of them union members, marched in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles in an effort to keep pressure on congressional leaders to approve an emergency aid package for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler.

Passing cars honked horns as the marchers shouted: “Hey, hey, ho, ho! Bridge loan is the way to go!” Many waved signs reading “Support the Bridge Loan” and “All I Want for Christmas is a Job.”

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Democratic congressional leaders agreed late Friday to a stopgap compromise that would provide at least $14 billion in loans to the auto industry by diverting money from an existing fund that was supposed to help automakers produce more fuel-efficient cars, according to senior aides.

The measure still needs support from some Republicans to get through the Senate, as well as White House approval. But President Bush already has come out in favor of using money from the Energy Department’s $25-billion advanced technology fund to help the car companies.

“This is not a union fight. This is an American fight,” said Rodriguez, 54, a vice president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770.

Francisco Estrada, 45, of United Auto Workers Local 179 said a collapse of the auto industry would be devastating for families such as his. He has six children and four grandchildren.

“If the Big Three go down,” he said, referring to GM, Ford and Chrysler, “we all go down.”

The rally, organized by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, brought together union electricians, nurses and janitors. Several elected officials also attended, including Los Angeles Councilman Herb Wesson and Los Angeles-area Assemblymen Mike Eng, Warren Furutani, Ed Hernandez and Anthony Portantino.

Wesson said he had a personal connection to the auto union: His father worked at a Chevrolet plant near Cleveland.

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“The union helped put food on our table,” he said.

As Rodriguez marched with his 3-year-old son, Jason, he said he didn’t regret giving away his tickets to the big game. A USC supporter, Rodriguez made sure they ended up with a fellow Trojan fan.

“I didn’t give them to no UCLA guy,” he said.

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robert.lopez@latimes.com

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