L.A. Could Impose Union Contract

[Omaha Steve]

Full story free reg req: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union15aug15,1,1338289.story



L.A. Could Impose Union Contract
By Joe Mathews and Duke Helfand, Times Staff Writers
August 15, 2006

The Los Angeles City Council could impose new contract terms on the Engineers and Architects Assn. as soon as today, a move that would give a retroactive pay raise to the 8,000-members of a union that is preparing to stage a strike next week.

The implementation of a three-year contract offer, covering 2004 through 2007, would be the latest chapter in one of Los Angeles' most bitter and longest-running labor disputes.

The union hasn't had a contract since 2004, when negotiations with the city broke off. City officials said the proposed move would send a clear message that they will not negotiate with the union, which has a reputation for dramatic and confrontational tactics.

The union has threatened to stage a two-day strike, starting next Tuesday, and conduct "additional actions which will disrupt the city thoroughly on those days," according to a posting earlier this month on the union website.