L.A. voters closely divided on city unions’ influence, Times Poll finds

 

  Do city worker unions have too much influence at Los Angeles City Hall?
 Critics of city government, particularly those at the more conservative end of the spectrum, often say so.

But Los Angeles voters seem skeptical.

In a new Los Angeles Times Poll, 39% of voters said city worker unions have "too much influence" over the city government. But 31% said unions had "about the right amount" of influence and 15% said they had "too little."

White voters were the most likely to say that unions had too much clout (48%), with Latinos and blacks voicing stronger pro-union sentiments.

The Times Poll of 1,500 registered voters was conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in conjunction with Public Opinion Strategies, both polling firms based in Washington, D.C. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

--David Lauter

Check Sunday's Los Angeles Times for full results of the new Times Poll on topics including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's political future, the city's budget deficit and a look ahead at next year's race for governor.

Photo: Times file

Comments

[pedro213]

Just like the MAFIA (ORGANIZED MOB)

[Joe Crompton]

I didn't take the poll, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Unions are relatively powerless in Los Angeles. It's the corporate developers that have their fists around City Hall's throat here in LA.

[Brian]

A note about the photo: The photo is of airline service workers at LAX during a short strike last summer. They aren't City employees; they work for contractors hired by airlines. They're fighting for basics like living wages, affordable healthcare, and for quality services and security for millions of LAX passengers.

[Stephen Thomas]

I am convinced that active union participation by workers is the best way to build a stronger middle class. This needs to happen not only for government workers in L.A. but for all workers, everywhere on the globe. Otherwise wealth will continue to concentrate in fewer and fewer hands, and workers will be left with nothing but pitiful crumbs. Profits need to be shared more equitably, as they do not result only from the efforts of managers and owners. To a large extent, profits are the results of the hard work of everyday people.

[Joe]

So what? I suspect that if you took of poll of the small percentage of the population that has been funding this fiasco for so long, they'd probably say the unions have too much power in LA, in Sac. and in DC. Our pretty boy mayor blabs on and on about saving city jobs and would never dream of attempting to figure out how many city jobs we actually need (assuming, I know this sounds crazy, that the employees worked 8 hrs for 8 hrs pay).

[Jason]

About 85% of the City of LA's budget is spent on salaries and benefits. Very little is spent on things like infrastructure or recreation. So, long story short, reductions to salaries and benefits are the only way that the City can balance its budget in this current fiscal downturn.

Unions feel that their employees should somehow be exempted from the current financial downturn...

[Kevin]

The headline could also have been, "In recent poll, over 2X as many people believe that city unions have too much power vs. too little."

[Lynn]

Every election the same unions are asking for us to vote for something that will specifically benefit them. They only show support for each other. Every year they are constantly threatening to strike or do go on strike or use their campaign donations as a threat it. If they add up how much they have paid in union dues (thousands/millions) which is why they are trying to get that money back via the tax payers (stop paying dues and individually negotiate for your own salaries. When working in the private sector if you had as many issues as the union workers have you just simply find another job, you don't bully your employer and customers into giving you what you want/demand. You can negotiate but if you are unable to come to an agreement you start looking for another job. Start paying attention folks every election and budget year they want something from us, they ask for so much all the time that the well has finally run dry. They cannot see it or understand because like a spoiled child they are not use to hearing the word NO. The population has increased to quickly which was not taken into consideration in the past when elected official decided to look the other way, and now we all have to pay for it even the union workers.

[Adam Soto]

Funny how white voters are more concerned with gay marriage than about living wages of fellow Angelenos.

Reminds me of how pugs in Santa Monica are better fed than children in Watts.

Just shows how disconnected the Westisde and West Valley are from the rest of the city.

[lk]

Unions, especially Public Employee unions are roadblocks of progress, and perfect companions to the government to waist taxpayers dollars. Where as with privet companies, there is a fine balance between the management and the workers. There is a finite limit how much the unions can demand, with public unions there aren't. Politicians will just raise taxes to give in to the unions demands.

It's you and me who are the losers in this situation, and people that took the survey are blindfolded by the word "UNION" and what is used to mean, and not what it means today.

[Tom D.]

Here's one (more) white westsider who's Pro-Union. Not everyone is a brainwashed anti-labor dittohead. Deal with it.

I look forward to reading about this poll in the Sunday edition; I hope it's not as divisive and moronic as it appears from this story.

I guess the poll didn't ask, "Do developers have too much influence at Los Angeles City Hall?"