Court Rejects Appeal of Proposed Layoffs at DWP

A state Court of Appeal on Tuesday rejected a city employee union’s request to block the layoff of 635 workers at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The one-sentence decision, dismissing the union’s appeal of a Superior Court judge’s ruling that the layoffs are legal, left the nation’s largest municipal utility free to downsize its work force, if negotiations that resumed after the appellate ruling fail to produce swift agreement on a buyout and severance package.

The court’s refusal to stop the layoffs dramatically increased pressure on the leadership of the Engineers and Architects Assn., which has refused to accept a package of cash severance payments or enhanced retirement benefits already approved by two other unions representing DWP employees.

The utility’s general manager, S. David Freeman, is expected to return to the bargaining table today in a last-ditch effort to reach an agreement that achieves the goal of reducing DWP’s work force without layoffs.

The two sides have been deadlocked since Feb. 26, when talks broke down over the size of the severance package that would be offered employees who leave voluntarily rather than being laid off. The City Council had authorized payments of between $25,000 and $50,000 to each employee who was ineligible for enhanced retirement benefits. The union is demanding a a year’s salary for younger workers.

Mark Siegel, a spokesman for the Engineers and Architects union, said he hopes that the renewed talks will lead to an agreement that avoids layoffs. “All along we’ve been trying to reach a negotiated settlement that meets the needs of the department and the employees,” he said.

For DWP to compete in the coming free market for electric power in California, Freeman insists that the utility eliminate nearly 2,000 jobs, slash operating expenses and pay off $4 billion in debt on its power plants by 2003.

The Engineers and Architects group, whose members were targeted for layoff, mounted a campaign against the layoffs in both the courts and the civil service system.

But Superior Court Judge Kurt J. Lewin last Friday refused to enjoin DWP from proceeding with the layoffs.