Mayor on Pay-Raise Hot Seat

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa faced pressure Tuesday to give security officers at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power the same controversial pay raises given to more than 9,000 other agency workers.

The mayor sidestepped the matter, at least temporarily, by asking the DWP general manager to try to negotiate a resolution.

The mayor did not oppose the City Council’s decision in September of last year to approve a contract with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18, that granted raises to most DWP employees of at least 19% and up to 31% over five years.

He said at the time that he would not have negotiated the same raises, but that he felt it was unfair to block an agreement struck before he became mayor that July.

Now, 171 DWP security officers, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union, Local 347, are demanding the same contract, putting Villaraigosa on the hot seat.

With more than a dozen of the security officers waiting outside, Villaraigosa on Tuesday chaired a closed-door meeting of the city’s Executive Employee Relations Committee, which sets negotiating positions.

During the meeting, the union representing security officers was allowed to press its case for parity with other DWP workers.

Union spokesman Jeff Rogers said the committee asked DWP General Manager Ron Deaton to meet with the union and try to work out the differences.

A spokesman for Villaraigosa declined to comment on details of the negotiations, citing confidentiality policies.

“However,” mayoral spokesman Joe Ramallo said, “the mayor is committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to both employees and ratepayers, and which reflects the significant fiscal challenges facing the city.”

Rogers said the union, which was working under a contract that expired more than a year ago, plans to meet with Deaton in the next week to try to resolve the dispute.

“We are hopeful,” Rogers said.