Long Beach Police Say Strike Is a Possibility

For the first time in a 10-month bitter labor battle with the city of Long Beach, leaders of the city’s police union Friday raised the possibility of a strike, although they insisted that they would only take the action as a last resort.

“A strike will be our absolute last alternative, but we do have a strike plan now,” Mike Tracy, president of the Long Beach Police Officers Assn., said Friday. He added: “My personal opinion is we will never get there. But we do realize it’s something we have to plan for.”

Tracy’s comments came as half of the union’s 620 members took a court-ordered vote on the city’s most recent contract offer, which was made in October. Secret ballots were to be counted Friday night after the rest of the union’s members voted.

Although Tracy said the union’s board of directors remains opposed to any job action, police leaders predicted an overwhelming rejection of the contract.

City officials were reluctant to comment about a possible strike other than to say that such an action would be illegal. “They’re precluded by law from taking any job action at all,” said William H. Storey, Long Beach human resources director.

After months of fruitless talks with the union, the Long Beach City Council in November declared an impasse in the negotiations and voted to impose the city’s contract offer on the union without its consent.

The union, claiming that such a move violates state labor laws, has gone to court to block the city’s action. A Superior Court judge is expected to rule in the case Monday. Judge Dzintra I. Janavs, who has indicated that she will rule in favor of the city, ordered Friday’s membership vote.

Whatever the judge’s opinion, however, protracted appeals are expected. Tracy said the union will immediately mount a legal challenge if Janavs says the city can adopt the contract.

Although the impasse declaration officially broke off negotiations, Tracy said Los Angeles area representatives of the AFL-CIO are acting as intermediaries for the police union and discussing the disputed contract provisions with Long Beach officials.

Even though union officials have mapped out a battle plan that includes political opposition to council incumbents running for reelection this spring, Tracy held out the possibility of a settlement in the fractious labor negotiations, which have revolved around personnel practices rather than money.

The union-management strife erupted soon after the 677-member department was showered with bad publicity a year ago when a white Long Beach police officer was seen on national television slamming black activist Don Jackson into a plate-glass window during a secretly filmed traffic arrest. That officer, Mark Dickey, is awaiting trial with his partner, Mark Ramsey, on charges stemming from the incident.