As Martin Ludlow, chief of the Los Angeles County labor federation, contemplates his resignation under threat of criminal indictment, the political repercussions of the controversy reach beyond Ludlow himself, most obviously to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
On Friday, Villaraigosa reiterated his support for a man who "is like a son to me," a reminder that few people are more closely allied with the mayor than the now-embattled union chief.
"I know Martin Ludlow," Villaraigosa told a crowd of reporters and spectators at a news conference with Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and other public officials to discuss transportation issues. "Martin Ludlow is a good man.... I believe in him."
Sources familiar with the case say federal prosecutors have offered Ludlow a plea deal that would bar him from union leadership but spare him jail time in order to resolve accusations that the Service Employees International Union Local 99 secretly spent $53,000 to help elect him to the Los Angeles City Council in 2003.
On Friday, Ludlow said in a statement that he would take the weekend to consider his options; prosecutors have given him until Tuesday to make up his mind.
For Villaraigosa, the pressure on Ludlow and his possible departure from the County Federation of Labor may be most wrenching on a personal level. As the mayor's comments indicated, the men are long, close friends, and the federal government's pursuit of Ludlow has shocked and alarmed some in Villaraigosa's inner circle.
Moreover, if Ludlow does leave, not only would it deprive the mayor of a trusted ally, it also would do so precisely when Villaraigosa is preparing to launch a two-front conflict with his old friends in labor.
Next month the mayor, a former labor organizer, will unveil his first budget, and early indications are that city employees' unions -- which are part of the federation, though often with divergent interests from the other members -- will be unhappy, denied pay increases that many have sought.
Villaraigosa's ability to sell the budget to a labor-dominated City Council depends in part on support for it from non-city unions, whose allegiance the mayor was hoping to win in part through Ludlow's leadership.
Even before the budget is presented, Villaraigosa is contending with some angry elements of the city's organized labor force. The Engineers and Architects Assn., with almost 9,000 members, announced this week that it intends to spend $1.5 million on a campaign to draw public attention to its complaints about the administration.
