Villaraigosa Urges Talks on DWP Contract

Amid continuing threats of a strike by Department of Water and Power workers if their contract is not approved by the city, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for both sides to reduce the heated rhetoric Thursday and try to work out something agreeable.

Brian D’Arcy, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 18, first raised the possibility of a job action a week ago when the DWP board declined to approve a five-year extension of its contract with nearly 8,000 workers.

The contract would guarantee that salaries go up at least 17% over five years, and salaries could increase up to 34% if inflation hits 6% annually.

D’Arcy repeated Thursday that a work stoppage was an option if the contract was not approved by Oct. 1, when the current pact expires.

“We have an agreement, and they [city officials] have been put on notice to make every effort to approve it by Oct. 1,” D’Arcy said. If the contract is not approved, “our members will have a choice to withhold their services,” the union leader said.

Villaraigosa, appearing at an event marking the 40th anniversary of the Watts riots, said the city does not need labor unrest.

“I would hope that it hasn’t come to that, that cooler heads will prevail and that we can figure out a way to provide good wages for our workers but protect our tax base as well.”