Hahn, Rivals Court Labor Support

When county labor leader Miguel Contreras stepped out to begin the annual Labor Day parade in Wilmington on Monday, he was flanked by Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn and City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa.

It was a telling arrangement. Hahn and Villaraigosa are contending again for the office of mayor, and both are seeking the endorsement of Contreras’ Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

With key labor endorsements -- including the federation’s -- still up for grabs, Hahn and four of his challengers made the rounds Monday at various Labor Day rallies, picnics and parades. Each promised to look out for working men and women in Los Angeles.

Hahn has been endorsed by the city firefighters union and is likely to wrap up the backing of Service Employees International Union Local 347, which represents 10,000 blue-collar workers at City Hall.

But the city police union, which has a history of backing incumbents and backed Hahn in the 2001 election, has been conspicuously silent on Hahn’s reelection, and may not endorse before the March election because of concern the mayor is vulnerable.

And although Hahn has put Contreras on the city Airport Commission, the federation has not met to discuss endorsements. The labor organization, which represents more than 300 unions, also has ties to three other mayoral candidates -- Villaraigosa, state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) and former Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg.

Hahn’s vulnerability in a strong field of challengers and disagreements among union factions could result in labor splitting endorsements as it did in 2001, or endorsing multiple candidates, according to Larry Berg, retired director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.

“In electoral politics in Los Angeles, the unions have got a lot of clout,” Berg said. “You have got to deal with them.”

At the Wilmington parade, which was attended by more than 3,000 members and supporters from 75 unions, Hahn said his emphasis on improving public safety, providing affordable housing and requiring city contractors to pay prevailing wages has helped working families.

He kicked off the Labor Day weekend by announcing plans to implement a citywide labor agreement to require contractors on city public works projects to hire local workers and apprentices and to fund apprenticeship programs.

“I think I’ve demonstrated that I’ve been somebody that labor can count on on important issues,” said Hahn, who wore a green T-shirt with the logo of a pile driver operators union. “I think on the whole I have a good story to tell labor, and I expect to do very well there.”

Although blue-collar city workers received a contract that does not provide a wage increase this year, Julie Butcher, the general manager of Local 347, said she was satisfied with Hahn’s assistance.

“This is an incumbent who has been absolutely there for us,” said Butcher, who attended the parade and picnic at Banning Park in Wilmington.

Alarcon joined Hahn, Hertzberg and Villaraigosa in mixing with union members at the picnic, where Contreras said union leaders faced a tough decision in the March mayoral election.

“We have a lot of good friends running, including the mayor, who is with us today. We are going to have to make a decision about what is best for organized workers here in Los Angeles,” said Contreras, head of a federation that is an umbrella group for 800,000 members.

He noted that all five major candidates have run with labor endorsements in past contests, including Villaraigosa, whom the county federation backed against Hahn three years ago.

“I know he is going to attempt to do that again,” Contreras said of Villaraigosa. “I’m just not sure how successful he is going to be. We have a mayor who has been good to organized labor here in Los Angeles.”

The federation does not plan to meet on the mayoral race endorsement until after the November presidential election, Contreras said.

To win an endorsement of the county federation’s Committee on Political Education, a candidate must garner the votes of two-thirds of the 100 voting members.

Alarcon said there was a good chance the county federation would not muster the required vote.

“I believe we may see an open endorsement, which would be a victory for me,” Alarcon said. “It puts labor in a very tough position to be endorsing alternate candidates when the mayor is negotiating contracts.”

Alarcon said Hahn was vulnerable for several reasons, including the ongoing investigations by federal and county grand juries into contracting by Hahn-appointed commissions.

“I think citywide there is a general dissatisfaction with the level of activism of this current mayor, and the whole question of the investigation of ‘pay to play’ and ethics, that looms large,” Alarcon said.

Villaraigosa sounded the same messages after a morning appearance at a union rally at Pershing Square, where he said he was still hopeful he would emerge as the labor candidate.

“I fully expect I’ll have a majority of the unions supporting me, but more importantly, I’ll have the vote of the working families in this city,” he said in an interview. “They know my record and that I believe in restoring the middle-class jobs with benefits in Los Angeles.”

Hertzberg also spent time at the Wilmington picnic, serving hot dogs and talking to union members. Hertzberg said it was difficult to compete for labor endorsements when not holding an elected office.

His message to union officials was that he is looking out for their long-term future by developing plans to improve the region’s economy for years to come.

“I don’t see any long-term plan for the economy that [Hahn] has developed,” Hertzberg said.

Villaraigosa also suggested that Hahn’s campaign for reelection may have been hurt by investigations into city contracting.

“These investigations undermine trust and confidence in him and his administration,” Villaraigosa said. “But I believe that this campaign will be about competing visions for the city.”

Walter Moore, an attorney who is also running for mayor, attacked Hahn’s ethics during an appearance Monday on KABC-AM radio. Moore denounced Hahn’s proposed $9-billion plan to remodel Los Angeles International Airport as an unnecessary project aimed at benefiting contractors who give to Hahn’s campaigns.

“He is the only mayor I have ever heard of who has a tip jar on his desk,” Moore said. “I just think that is wrong.”