Tuesday May 04, 2010 Los Angeles, CA Story by LA City Workers.com Writers
Executive Director Bob Aquino, Gone.
Assistant Executive Director Patti Loparo Gone.
MOU 08, Gone. MOU 17 Gone. External Union Organizers Gone.
What is left and what is ahead for EAA.
In the last few months things have gone from bad to worse for EAA the staff has been leaving or have been asked to leave in record numbers, the one person left to run the show is the Interim Executive Director Michael Davies and 4 Member reps. That number was reduced after the crippling loss of the two units last year to Powerhouse SEIU, an International Union with experienced labor leaders and organizers who are experienced in picking the low hanging fruit from the union tree.
Bob Aquino Former Executive director recently departed now his Assistant executive director Patti has joined him rather then taking over as executive she has reportedly left EAA as well.
With Weeks left in the current contract EAA members have begun to quietly ask themselves what’s next for our union and our employment.
CAO Taking No Prisoners
Currently EAA members are left to bargain in a climate where employees are being asked to take a 16% cut in pay and additional benefit cuts, the CAO is left with very little room to make cuts and has been directed by the mayor to achieve the cuts from those who are not in contracts first.
Best last final? What will the best last final offer be to EAA members? Currently talks of 0% for the first year and 2% the second with a third year possibly reaching 3% is the best they have been looking at faced with a coalition unwilling to give back any further and the threat of layoffs and furloughs continuing for EAA members the CAO has the upper-hand and the union is left to bargain with an Interim Executive Director.
Interim Executive Director Michael Davies is a Transportation Planner for the City of LA, a far cry from the ranks of other labor leaders in Los Angeles who have decades of experience behind them.
EAA Members are quietly asking themselves if they made the wrong choice in previous decertification movements and this year will be key to getting those answers, two unions bargaining separately for it’s membership, with the same CAO.
Who will end up getting a better deal? Will the two sides be played against each other to garner more concessions?
What is clear is that EAA is having serious staffing issues at the most critical time in the most volatile economic climate in a hundred years it is down to a handful of staff, and nothing positive is on the horizon, just the opposite SEIU is reportedly getting hundreds of member inquiries from EAA members asking if they will have the chance to get out of EAA and join SEIU.
SEIU had no comment on it’s plans to allow the EAA members to join it’s LA City Professionals organization but rumor has it they will allow the eaa members to vote on leaving for the Purple professionals side.
Having lost it’s leadership, several of it’s largest Units and left with a transportation planner as Executive director, the outlook is not good for EAA with several of it’s units having voted so closely the last time to decert the financial hit that losing thousands of members has taken on the EAA budget and the lack of staff a decertification attempt would be crippling to EAA and the membership is ultimately going to have a choice to make Stay with EAA or take a chance on SEIU which is one of the largest unions in the country all this while EAA is still furloughed.
Only time will tell which method of thinking will prevail but it is clear from EAA staff actions to the conversations in the hallways, things are not looking good at EAA.
One positive note the EAA IUPA Local 8000 website is looking very good and the staff responsible for that are doing a fantastic job!
The Blog posted under LAcityworkers.com on May 4th is an insult to the intelligence of anyone who reads it. If this blog is not controlled by SEIU, it certainly pimps for them. “Powerhouse SEIU”, it claims. It further posits that EAA is somehow weakened by the departure of Bob Aquino while failing to mention the resignation of the SEIU President, Andy Stern. While we all realize that negotiations for wages are challenging in today’s economic environment, SEIU egg throwers have expended so much of their energy on inner union battles and eating their own, I am amazed that they have any resources left to fight City Hall.
This whole blog is just another sneaky pitch for members to prop up a union that has had mass defections in California and is in desperate need of your money.
And in case anyone forgets SEIU’s recent past in Los Angeles,
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SEIU members in Los Angeles were victimized by one of the most appalling cases of union corruption in recent history.
Members saw their money illegally used to support the city council race of Martin Ludlow. Ludlow was sentenced for conspiracy to illegally funnel money from SEIU Local 99 to his campaign and ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution.
Four of the last eight Teamsters union presidents have been criminally indicted.
UNITE HERE has been found guilty of invading employees’ privacy and ordered to pay $17 million for defaming medical professionals, and it has been sued by its own employees after the union slashed their staff’s key retirement benefit by 95%.
In the same scandal, former SEIU head Janett Humprhies collaborated with Ludlow to use union funds to pay the salaries of six union employees working on his campaign. One of Humphries’ lawyers said Ludlow and allies “were doing what unions do” and added, “The testimony has raised serious red flags about the integrity of union politics in Los Angeles.”
Those are all valid points if we were discussing the International union, EAA is not on par with the international, that is why It was not included. SEIU equivalent to Bob Aquino is Julie butcher, who has been involved with Unions for decades, and she currently remains at SEIU 721.
Local 721 has become a powerhouse in local politics and ranks second only to the IBEW.
SEIU currently employs more custodians in their offices then EAA has organizers.
SEIU has more clerical staff then EAA has reps for its members.
SEIU has hundreds of staff members in various locations with a high tech call center to track member grievances and issues. EAA Member Representatives can be counted on one hand. SEIU is a true international union with the resources to represent it’s members. EAA is affiliated with a police union. SEIU Has the Power in it’s member base to shut down the city, only the LAPD and IBEW share that similar power. EAA had a failed strike. EAA is in crisis and the membership has seen the future that is why they defected by an overwhelming majority to SEIU Forming the professionals section at SEIU 721.
Certainly you are a big fan of EAA, and maintain the blinders that they have had over the members for a long time, it is very factual that the members of EAA are asking to leave EAA. Speaking of matters such as the nurses or corruption in other areas is a weak attempt at deflecting the question at hand, Is EAA in Crisis? With the lack of funds at EAA short of a Pay cut to all staff or increasing the members dues they will be unable to maintain the current members they still have.
This website is 100% independent, it is a shame you can’t read all of the material here to see that for yourself.
What was the final amount the members paid for Bob Aquinos golden parachute to leave EAA?