Teamsters Seeking to Represent the LAPD

One of the nation’s largest and brawniest labor unions--the Teamsters--is launching a campaign to represent Los Angeles police officers and, in the process, decertify the Police Protective League.

The Teamsters’ effort, which will be announced today, comes at a politically volatile time as the league works to remove LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks, who is seeking a second five-year term.

A group of about 200 officers backing the Teamsters so far generally support Parks and oppose the league’s lobbying, said regional Teamsters head Jim Santangelo.

“It’s about the chief, and it’s about the representation they’re getting from the league,” said Santangelo, president of the Teamsters Joint Council 42, which has about 120,000 members.

League President Mitzi Grasso said the union leadership is “confident the Teamsters will not be able to take us over....

“The Teamsters have a very poor record of representation in law enforcement in California and [on] the West Coast,” Grasso said. “It is an industrial union with no experience representing law enforcement.”

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which has about 1.5million members nationwide, represents 297 law enforcement agencies across the country, said spokesman Rob Blackwell.

Members include 400 Nevada state troopers who affiliated two months ago, he said.

Mayor James K. Hahn this month opposed Parks’ reappointment, citing unhappiness among the Los Angeles Police Department’s rank and file with the chief’s leadership.

The union battle could be seen as a referendum on officers’ sentiments about Parks and the league’s opposition to him. The league represents about 8,200 of the LAPD’s 8,910 officers.

Santangelo said about 10 officers went to the Teamsters nearly a year ago to ask for organizing help. Since then, he said, they have been joined by about 200 others.

Today, the Teamsters will begin distributing blue pledge cards to gauge support for the switch in representation.

A month ago, as the Teamsters campaign gained momentum, the league affiliated with the AFL-CIO after 75 years as an unaffiliated union, a move that many saw as an attempt to stop the larger union.

The national federation protects member unions from raids by other member unions through an official adjudication process. The league plans to file a complaint under that process, Grasso said.

Santangelo said the affiliation was not done properly, and AFL-CIO would not stop the Teamsters, one of its largest affiliates.

“As far as our attorneys are concerned, this isn’t a raid,” he said, using the official term for the prohibited activity.

Ground Rules for Campaign

Santangelo said he and other Teamsters met with LAPD representatives Monday to work out ground rules for the campaign.

He said department officials initially wanted to ban officers from wearing Teamsters T-shirts or buttons while off duty, but later agreed to allow it.

“They want to shut us down,” Santangelo said of the LAPD leadership, “but we’re not going into this lightly.”

Blackwell claimed the Teamsters would have more clout to bargain strong contracts.

“The LAPD has seen attrition of its officers,” he said. “They have lost officers to suburban police departments that have better wages, benefits and hours. So this attrition made those officers think that maybe we could get a stronger contract with the Teamsters.”

Cmdr. Gary Brennan, a spokesman for the LAPD, said the issue would remain a matter for the unions and the officers to work out.

“The department’s position is it’s going to stay out of it,” he said.