Los Angeles Government Employees Labor Relations

At least six towering cargo ships sat stranded off Los Angeles harbor and millions of dollars' worth of freight waited on the docks Sunday as a tiny segment of the city's work force--its 11 union harbor pilots--extended a weekend strike after the collapse of contract talks.

Negotiations between Los Angeles County officials and the county's largest union were on hold Wednesday as labor leaders searched for a new site for the discussions. During and after Service Employees International Union, Local 660 called a brief countywide strike last week, the union and county officials negotiated at the Furama hotel in Westchester. But after bargaining late into Tuesday night, the union's lease on rooms there expired.

For five years, organized labor has been trumpeting its more "strategic" approach to bargaining and organizing. This week, Los Angeles has had a good look at what that means. When the MTA bus drivers' strike stalled, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor called on African American ministers, immigrant rights groups, state legislators and other carefully cultivated allies, hoping to stir up a "public uprising" to pressure the transit board.

Love swelled across the "Orange Curtain" Wednesday as couples from Los Angeles County trekked south for marriage licenses after being greeted with apologies and closed doors by striking public employees there. Phyllis Bates, 37, and Leonard Johnson, 49, of Carson beamed with relief as, five minutes before closing, they waited to pay $61.50 for a license at the century-old brick Old Courthouse in Santa Ana. They had been turned away earlier from clerks' offices in Los Angeles and Norwalk.

Security workers at Los Angeles International Airport, unhappy with their wages and tired of waiting for Mayor Richard Riordan to persuade their employers to grant a pay hike, have begun union organizing, and they say their employers already are threatening to retaliate. About 450 airport workers submitted a petition this week announcing their intention to form a union and complaining about their treatment.

Three years after a divisive strike at the Department of Water and Power, the Los Angeles City Council approved a four-year agreement with an electrical workers' union after two months of negotiations. Under the contract, which was approved Tuesday and takes effect Oct. 1, the 6,000 workers will receive a 2.9% raise at a cost to taxpayers of $8.3 million. For the remaining three years, the increases will range from 2% to 6%, depending on the consumer price index.

The Los Angeles Harbor Department on Thursday ordered its striking port pilots back to work with hand-delivered letters that describe their 6-day-old work stoppage as illegal and say that remaining off the job will be "deemed an act of insubordination."

Los Angeles city officials and striking port pilots exchanged new offers Sunday in closed-door contract talks, but by late evening, the two sides had not reached an accord. "We're just going back and forth with ideas," said City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie. "There's progress being made." "It's been businesslike," said pilot and union negotiator Will Baumann, of negotiations that lasted through the weekend at the San Pedro Hilton.

Los Angeles city officials and striking port pilots agreed Wednesday to return to the bargaining table--though they did not say when--as business at the nation's second-busiest harbor began to return to normal.

Los Angeles municipal officials and the city's striking port pilots met behind closed doors Saturday in San Pedro, but late in the evening the two sides were still struggling to end the labor dispute that has hamstrung the nation's second-busiest harbor for more than a week. Half a dozen city administrators and harbor officials met with members of the pilots union beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the San Pedro Hilton.

For five years, organized labor has been trumpeting its more "strategic" approach to bargaining and organizing. This week, Los Angeles has had a good look at what that means. When the MTA bus drivers' strike stalled, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor called on African American ministers, immigrant rights groups, state legislators and other carefully cultivated allies, hoping to stir up a "public uprising" to pressure the transit board.

Security workers at Los Angeles International Airport, unhappy with their wages and tired of waiting for Mayor Richard Riordan to persuade their employers to grant a pay hike, have begun union organizing, and they say their employers already are threatening to retaliate. About 450 airport workers submitted a petition this week announcing their intention to form a union and complaining about their treatment.

A Los Angeles City Council panel postponed a decision Thursday on a tentative settlement with the Department of Water and Power's employee union aimed at offering financial incentives to avoid massive layoffs in the municipal utility. The council's employees relations committee delayed a vote on the issue until next week to receive more information about the deal, struck late Tuesday between the Engineers and Architects Assn. and the DWP's management. DWP General Manager S.

Convinced that they will be unable to win a 72% raise over two years to bring their annual salaries to $195,000--reportedly the industry average--Los Angeles' striking port pilots have asked the city to pursue privatization, and they hope to use their employment contract to protect their jobs in the process.

Los Angeles city officials and striking port pilots exchanged new offers Sunday in closed-door contract talks, but by late evening, the two sides had not reached an accord. "We're just going back and forth with ideas," said City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie. "There's progress being made." "It's been businesslike," said pilot and union negotiator Will Baumann, of negotiations that lasted through the weekend at the San Pedro Hilton.

Los Angeles municipal officials and the city's striking port pilots met behind closed doors Saturday in San Pedro, but late in the evening the two sides were still struggling to end the labor dispute that has hamstrung the nation's second-busiest harbor for more than a week. Half a dozen city administrators and harbor officials met with members of the pilots union beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the San Pedro Hilton.

Calling a strike an "act of desperation," the president of the Los Angeles teachers union said Tuesday that contract negotiations will continue with the Los Angeles Unified School District but that teachers will not accept a current offer that would slash their pay 12% below what they earned two years ago.

Frustrated by prolonged contract talks, members of the union representing 8,000 employees of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power voted Sunday to authorize their leadership to call a strike, a union spokesman said. The vote could lead to a strike by the end of August unless negotiators make significant progress toward a new contract, said Brian D'Arcy, business manager for Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The union's contract expired nearly 10 months ago.

Under intense pressure from the Los Angeles City Council, the Harbor Department on Friday withdrew its letter ordering striking port pilots back to work, and the two sides spent more than three hours at the bargaining table before scheduling another negotiating session for 3 p.m. today. City officials and the president of the pilots union emerged from the union attorney's Mid-Wilshire office building encouraged about the possibility of settling the 7-day-old strike.

The Los Angeles Harbor Department on Thursday ordered its striking port pilots back to work with hand-delivered letters that describe their 6-day-old work stoppage as illegal and say that remaining off the job will be "deemed an act of insubordination."