Elections deal a blow to greedy Democrat L.A. unions

[Charles M. Dunn]

May 23, 2013, 5:34 p.m.

Some of the most powerful labor organizations in Los Angeles
placed huge bets on mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel that went
bust. All their spending and prodigious organization failed to
ignite Greuel's campaign and allowed her opponent, Eric
Garcetti, to turn the deep pockets against them, persuading many
voters that they were trying to buy the election.

Losses by Greuel and two other union-backed candidates in
Tuesday's municipal election cost big labor its aura of near-
invincibility in Los Angeles politics. It raised the question of
whether the union representing Department of Water and Power
workers will be a welcome ally in future citywide contests. Some
political and business leaders even suggested that the results
could force labor to take a more nuanced political role and to
expect less clout inside city government.

But Tuesday's electoral setbacks do not immediately alter the
basic political architecture at Los Angeles City Hall, where the
majority of officeholders, including Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti,
maintain strong ties to organized labor.

The county's most powerful union figure � Maria Elena Durazo,
chief of the 800,000-member Los Angeles County Federation of
Labor � said she was disappointed by Tuesday's defeats but
unbowed in her determination to push for "living" wages for the
working poor and guaranteed-benefit pensions for public
employees.

"I didn't get in this movement to have my success measured by
one election or two elections," Durazo said. "Our values remain
the same and I think they are consistent with the overwhelming
majority of voters. We want to help teachers, nurses, hotel
workers and others to lead a better life."

In the near term, civilian city employees will stand firm to
hold on to a previously granted 5.5% pay raise due in January,
which some officials say Los Angeles can no longer afford. (The
council approved a budget Thursday including the raise, but
council members held out some hope of getting other financial
give-backs later.) Workers will continue to register their
disdain for the ongoing tenure of Miguel Santana, the city
administrator who pushed for budget-balancing layoffs, furloughs
and benefit reductions. And, from outside City Hall, workers are
preparing to ask the council and Garcetti to enact a $15-an-hour
minimum wage for workers at more than 80 big hotels.

"The elections represented a loss for labor, but not a fatal
one," said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political
science at Cal State L.A. "Labor will do generally well in the
Garcetti mayoral years, but the city's public-sector unions will
be in a more difficult and defensive position than they would
have been under Wendy."

Workers' organizations loomed large from the start of the
mayor's race. Greuel, the city controller, benefited from
television ads largely funded by various units of the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which
contributed a total of $2 million to an independent expenditure
campaign. In her runoff with Garcetti, a city councilman, she
also had the advantage of county labor federation workers, who
made phone calls and walked door to door for almost two months.

Greuel got another major push from Service Employees
International Union, Local 721, the representative of 10,000
city workers, as well as the backing of about 30 other unions or
locals. Garcetti listed 15 labor groups as supporters.

Of the $26.2 million spent by the candidates or on their behalf,
almost $7 million came from the unions, their members or
employees. The lion's share of that, more than $5.8 million,
benefited Greuel.

But her labor support created tensions. In a closed-door meeting
with SEIU members late last year, Greuel criticized Garcetti for
voting to lay off workers and said she would be with union
members "every step of the way." That seemed to fly in the face
of the image she cultivated as a tough fiscal watchdog.

Later in the campaign, the big money from the DWP workers union
helped pay for engaging TV ads featuring former President Bill
Clinton's endorsement and for mailers that accused Garcetti of
"driving L.A. to the brink of bankruptcy."

But Garcetti's own television ads pounded home the fact that
Greuel was benefiting from her connection to the utility
workers' union. The Garcetti camp described the IBEW as the "DWP
union," a city department that some voters love to loathe,
especially when they write their monthly utility checks.

"You get a bill from them every month," said an operative for
one of Greuel's independent expenditure groups. "It's almost
like [being] the IRS union." In the future, the operative said,
Democratic candidates will have to consider whether large
donations carry too much baggage to be worth their while. They
would be better served by labor spending in smaller elections
that get less scrutiny, or by unified labor coalitions that
don't allow the opposition to demonize one organization, such as
the DWP.

Former state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) said reaction
against special interests in the Los Angeles mayoral election
paralleled the backlash against big independent expenditures in
other campaigns. Proposition 32, the state ballot measure that
would have limited unions' ability to collect political cash,
went down in last November's election largely because voters saw
it financed by outsiders, including groups linked to
billionaires Charles and David Koch. In this year's school board
race, Antonio Sanchez got $2 million from the county Federation
of Labor and the support of most of Los Angeles' power elite but
lost to heavily out-funded elementary school teacher Monica
Ratliff.

"I think people just got disgusted with the attempted buying of
elections, whether DWP, or the so-called reform coalitions
putting in millions to buy this one seat," said Romero. "I think
the bigger [sentiment] was 'We don't care where it's coming
from, you can't buy our election.' I think that's powerful."

Another longtime labor activist said the election should caution
the county Federation of Labor, an umbrella organization
representing more than 300 unions, against backing candidates
with flimsy political resumes. Sanchez in the school board race
and John Choi in the 13th Council District contest had less
experience than their victorious opponents, Ratliff and longtime
City Hall aide Mitch O'Farrell.

"This should set them back on their heels and show them they are
not invincible. They have to pick better candidates," said the
activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve
relationships with other union leaders. "But I don't think there
is a lot of self-reflection going on."

Art Sweatman, a tree surgeon for the city and shop steward at
SEIU Local 721, questioned the need to have the county
Federation of Labor involved in elections. "I think we need to
look at whether they are really representing our locals in the
right manner," Sweatman said. "The bottom line is, do we really
need a union for the unions?"

Carol Schatz, president and CEO of the Central City Assn., said
some labor organizations have been "arrogant" about their
ability to elect any candidate. "That is now in question," said
Schatz, whose organization represents downtown businesses.
"There has been a lack of balance at City Hall before this. I
have said that no special interest, whether business or labor,
should have as much power as they have had."

Greuel's loss represented the third consecutive mayoral runoff
election in which the Federation of Labor backed the loser. But
Durazo said unions have nevertheless continued to grow and
thrive.

The organization took some heat when it sent a mailer days
before the election that promised Latino voters that "la Wendy
will raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour." Greuel said she
backed the higher wage for workers at big hotels, but did not
support it for everyone.

After the vote had been counted, Durazo made no apologies for
the mailer.

"She did not commit to that, but we felt she is the kind of
person who would support $15 an hour for any worker," said
Durazo, speaking by phone from Florida, where she joined a
convention of black trade union members. She said the campaign
had helped bring the living wage into the public debate and that
was good, considering that 28% of working people make so little
that they live in poverty.

"This city has to have that debate," she said. "We are not going
to stop there. We are going to keep talking about it."

james....@latimes.com

seema...@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mayor-unions-
20130524,0,3873515.story