PERSPECTIVE - The unions spoke and Greuel, Garcetti and Perry buckled under.
Labor leaders asked local officials to refuse campaign contributions from Walmart and the three City Hall regulars complied. Kevin James, the sole outsider in the race, was critical of their decision.
Garcetti linked Walmart with a “race to the bottom” as far as wages go.
Perry said she wanted jobs that offered a “reasonable quality of life.”
The three candidates are the same ones who grant tax breaks to developers who create low-wage jobs, who accept union money and hand out generous benefits to their members, and have much to do with the deterioration of municipal services to the citizens of Los Angeles, many of whom are part of the middle class they purport to support.
The most laughable comment came from Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor: “It doesn’t take campaign finance reform to prevent Walmart from wrapping its tentacles around our political system in L.A. County.”
If Walmart has tentacles, then the public unions are giant anacondas crushing the city and suffocating the residents.
And why pick on Walmart? Why not Target? The retail industry as a whole pays lower than average wages, not to mention the hotel, tourism and other segments that depend on unskilled or semiskilled labor. These industries are vital to the Los Angeles economy. The City Council does not appear to have a problem with their expansion in general.
At least two of these three insider candidates will be out of a job soon.
You may see them cleaning a spill on aisle number nine at a Walmart near you.
(Paul Hatfield is a CPA and serves as Treasurer for the Neighborhood Council Valley Village. He blogs at Village to Village, contributes to CityWatch and can be reached at: [email protected]) –cw
Tags: Paul Hatfield, Walmart, Walmart protest, Wendy Greuel, Eric Garcetti, Jan Perry, Kevin James, Maria Elena Durazo, Chinatown, low wages
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 54
Pub: July 6, 2012