L.A. Now Live: The DWP, union battles and an ‘outsourcing bonus’
Join Times reporters Jack Dolan and Michael Finnegan at 9 a.m. Friday for an L.A. Now Live discussion about several issues involving the L.A. Department of Water and Power.
Dolan, Finnegan, Times staff writer David Zahniser and others have been following the DWP closely. In his latest story, Dolan focused on a little-known clause in the union contract of DWP employees that ensures they can work extra hours and collect even higher wages when private contractors are hired to help them get the job done.
From the piece: The so-called outsourcing bonus traces back to a single sentence inserted into the city-owned utility’s labor contract nearly two decades ago. Intended partly to discourage use of private companies with lower labor costs, the contract provision requires DWP managers to offer overtime to any employee who could have performed tasks assigned to a contractor -- such as engineering, construction or clerical work.
Finnegan and Zahniser also published a story about the DWP, but theirs focused on the battle over a crucial salary deal between the union and Mayor Eric Garcetti, and the role the City Council could play.
Join Dolan and Finnegan for an online discussion Friday morning about these and other important DWP issues. You’ll be able to send in all your questions and they will answer as many as they can.
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