Share
Share
By Bob Schoonover
SEIU 721 President
Note: This article ran on September 3 in CityWatch, an online newsletter about issues facing the City of Los Angeles.
The City of Los Angeles enters the Labor Day weekend with huge challenges. The recession is still battering private and public sector jobs, furloughs and cutbacks have hammered city services, and foreclosures are still shattering neighborhoods.
But three events that happened this week should give us all hope.
1. A new plan to put city employees in charge of golf cart operations at five city-run courses will generate cash for city government. That was a key point in our Strong Budget this year to contract in work that city workers already perform – and crack down on excessive contracting.
After a pilot project with city employees that saw revenue increase 11% this year, the City of Los Angeles proposed to end an outside contract for electric golf carts at five city-run golf courses. A report found that the contractor had underpaid rent to the city and profited from the work of city employees.
When it’s done, the city’s golf division will contribute $1,824,133 a year in golf revenue that supports LA parks and playgrounds, according to the Recreation and Parks Department.
The issue isn’t private business vs. public employees, it’s about who can deliver the best service and value for taxpayers. “As a recreation and parks gardener, I’m always held accountable for what happens in the parks. Outside contracting costs more in the long run,” said Andrew Ortiz, a gardener-caretaker at Rio de Los Angeles. “We’ve been around 100 years; we’re not new at this. We know what we’re doing.”
2. The city board that oversees civilian retirement recommended major changes that will save the city more than $28 million next year alone. The LA City Employee Retirement System was recently approved for a $20 million federal grant to support retiree health care. As a result, a board committee approved changing the “smoothing” period to mitigate the impact of stock market losses. That was another key plank in our Strong Budget.
Every employee’s retirement has taken a beating in the recession. It’s easy to forget that when public employees get all the blame for cities’ budget crises. But there are real solutions that don’t involve cutting services or the workers who provide them.
3. It’s not just taxpayers who suffer from contractor profiteering. When a contractor for one of America’s richest companies, JP Morgan Chase, laid off 16 janitors in Century City, 57 of their co-workers came forward in solidarity. They risked their jobs in this recession to stand up for their co-workers.
Los Angeles has the nation’s greatest disparity of wealth and poverty. Unions help fill the middle with workers who can afford to buy homes and keep them up, keep their families healthy, and save and pay for their own retirement.
Those are the things I’m proud of this weekend.
Thank you for your leadership and well timed words. Strength is called for like never before. Here is to a brighter future for all of us in the City Family.