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L.A. County supervisors finalize rule to break stalemate on labor commission

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Los Angeles County supervisors gave final approval Tuesday to a proposal that would allow them to break an impasse between management and labor over the makeup of a commission that rules on disputes involving county workers.

A three-member commission had been stalemated, without a working majority to make decisions. Unions and management have been in a standoff since the supervisors changed the process for appointing commissioners last year.

Under the old process, labor and management had to agree on all three appointments. Under the new rules, each side could independently pick a commissioner but would have to agree on the third. Unions preferred the old system and mounted an unsuccessful bid to get the new process thrown out through state legislation.

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In the meantime, the Employee Relations Commission has only one member -- the one appointed by management -- and has been unable to decide on any of hundreds of complaints that have piled up.

Under the plan approved Tuesday, if management and labor fail to agree on a third candidate within 90 days of a seat opening up, each side can submit nominees and the supervisors would select one to fill the position.

The vote was 4 to 0, with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas abstaining. Ridley-Thomas, who is the only consistently pro-labor vote on the board, said he wanted to see more done to resolve the situation without “more acrimony.”

“I think trying to work through a process that is more reasonable, fair-minded to all parties is a desirable outcome,” he said.

The head of the Coalition of County Unions sent a cease-and-desist letter to the county last week, saying it was illegal for supervisors to vote on the latest proposal because management had not met with unions to discuss it.

Meanwhile, the two Nov. 4 election candidates running to replace Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky came down on opposite sides of the issue in a debate Friday. Former state lawmaker Sheila Kuehl, who has a pro-labor history and is backed by the major county employee unions, said she preferred the old system in which all commissioners were appointed by agreement.

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The new method, she said, “puts weight on the side for management, and I don’t think we really need to be at war with our own employees.”

Her opponent, former Santa Monica City Councilman Bobby Shriver, said unions had won a substantial majority of the cases brought to the board under the old system.

“It wasn’t a level playing field,” he said. “The way it’s going to happen now is there’s going to be fairness.”

The new rule will be effective in a month, potentially allowing the board to appoint a working majority on the commission before Dec. 1, when Yaroslavsky and Supervisor Gloria Molina will turn over their seats to new supervisors. Former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has already been elected to replace Molina.

Follow Abby Sewell on Twitter at @sewella for more county news.

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