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ELECTIONS AND SELECTIONS... they affect us all Los Angeles City Council elections are particularly important to members of IBEW Local 18 and their families. These are the people with whom we will negotiate our next contract, and they are the people who have ultimate responsibility for all city departments, including the DWP. Local 18 strongly endorses the following candidates:
NO ON CHARTER REFORM Los Angeles voters will also be asked to decide a number of charter reform issues. First and foremost is the unified charter reform plan agreed to by the elected and appointed committees. The primary result of the reform would be to take power from the council and give more power to the mayor. We do not believe that this would be good for the city in general or Local 18 in particular, and we urge a NO vote on the proposal. Two additional measures, which will not take effect unless the charter reform amendment passes, would increase the size of the city council to 21 or 25 members. We urge a NO vote on those items as well. I should note that during the charter review process, county labor leaders attempted to get a number of labor-related issues on the table, but they were consistently ignored by the two committees. The compromise that is being proposed is a power grab by the mayor and his cronies and does nothing to improve governance procedures for the City of Los Angeles. Vote NO on charter reform. RETIREMENT BOARD FIASCO In the recent Retirement Board election, Local 18 sponsored a slate of candidates, none of whom were successful. Since we are by far the largest bargaining unit in the Department, this seemed rather odd. We demanded an investigation into the election procedure, which turned up many irregularities. While admitting that the process was flawed and substantially revamping election procedures for future elections, the Board of Water and Power Commissioners still went ahead and certified the election. This is unacceptable. We are calling for a new Retirement Board election, and to that end we have filed suit in Superior Court. As we go to press, the suit is in discovery. Numerous motions are anticipated, but we are confident that the flawed election will ultimately be overturned and that Local 18 members regain the right to elect members to the board that controls their future. WHO NEEDS CIGNA? Local 18 has filed an Unfair Labor Practice claim against the Department for its failure to honor an agreement canceling the CIGNA Health Care plan for Local 18 members. The union sought to end participation in CIGNA after the provider, without notice, canceled coverage to the Owens Valley. Service to the remote Owens Valley is the only reason CIGNA was with the Department in the first place. If it’s not doing that job, it has nothing to offer. The union-endorsed HealthNet plan is accepted by virtually the same list of physicians and offers additional benefits at less or equal cost. Local 18 negotiated an agreement with the Department to drop CIGNA and keep our resources where they will work for us in the future, but that agreement was SUMMARILY DISREGARDED by LADWP Board of Commissioners President Rick Caruso. This is unwise, and it is UNFAIR! In Unity, BRIAN D’ARCY, Business Manager |