LOS ANGELES : DWP Employees Union Calls for Strike Vote

Accusing management of stalling contract negotiations, a union representing 8,000 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employees has called for a vote late next month that could authorize a strike.

Leaders of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 have filed a complaint with the city alleging that negotiation delays by the city are an unfair labor practice. Management negotiators denied that they have stalled, saying there had been a misunderstanding about one proposed meeting.

The union, which represents 80% of DWP employees, is demanding a cost-of-living pay increase after nearly two years without pay raises. They say the semi-independent city department has plenty of money to give a raise and that privately run utilities recently increased their workers’ pay by more than 3%.

But city officials, who have been trying to bring DWP employees in line with lower-paid city workers, said it would be unfair to increase pay for one union when there is no money to raise other employees’ salaries.