LADN Attacks DWP Workers
The Los Angeles Daily News is virulently anti-worker. They think everyone should be making poor wages and grateful for having a job, no matter how dangerous. This weekend they came out with a breathless report about the salaries of DWP employees, publishing the amount every single employee makes online. The editor went so far as to put up a note at the head of the article, urging people to read the article and "see how your pay compares with theirs". This is a divisive attempt to try and depress the salaries of other city employees who are currently in contract negotiations.
For years the DWP has under-hired workers. There are hundreds of jobs that go unfilled. The end result is an experience and aging workforce that therefor gets paid more than the average city employee. 40% of the workforce is near retirement age. That doesn't even begin to figure in the fact that many of these workers, particularly those who spend their days around electrical lines, work in extremely dangerous conditions.
The DWP also wants to hire another 768 workers to upgrade the power system, and it must compete for those workers against private utilities that can pay even more for skilled workers.
Brian D'Arcy, business manager of IBEW Local 18 that represents 8,080 DWP workers, defended the pay scale and said DWP workers' jobs are unlike any others.
"It's a much more industrial environment, much tougher work, more complicated and more skill that's involved. There's not a lot of room for error over here," D'Arcy said. "Even among the clerical workers, the predominant clerical is customer service representatives.
"I wouldn't want to do their jobs, take complaints."
[note: Brian is the co-chair of Working Californians]
Not many people would for bad pay. That is what the LADN is arguing for. They are encouraging a race to the bottom, where workers should compete to earn the least. They are attempting to publicly shame DWP employees for their salaries.
It was heartening to see comments coming into the LADN, pushing back against them for attacking workers. Here is one from nuttingcowboy:
For those of you who've never been close enough to live wires to hear them hum, or worked 40 to 100 feet off the ground let me give you a few clues. Electricity over 6,000 volts can jump up to an inch per 1,000 volts in dry air. The little lines at the top of the pole can carry up to 120,000 volts, the ones that feed the transformers carry 12,000 and your street lights run on between 6,000 and 7,600 volts. It takes less power to light a 25 watt light bulb than it does to kill a healthy person. Lineman expose themselves to hazards daily that would make any of the whiners in here wet themselves. (greatly increasing their exposure to shock) They work higher and deeper than most folks would go and you almost never know they're there. Now I'm no fan of the top heavy politically driven management of the DWP that's been using utility rates to circumvent Prop 13 for a generation; but before you whine about the IBEW workers making $100,000 a year (with overtime), climb that pole in the rain to restore service while the power's still on after you've already put in 11 hours that day. Or visit a friend in the hospital as they recover from the internal burns caused by electrocution; then you can complain about what hard working service people earn. Until then; when you turn on that light, you might thank an electrician.
Indeed.
This is yet one more example of an editorial agenda creeping into the LADN. The editors note at the top of the article borders on being unethical. There should be a clear line between the news and the opinion page.