The Los Angeles City Council could impose new contract terms on the Engineers and Architects Assn. as soon as today, a move that would give a retroactive pay raise to the 8,000-members of a union that is preparing to stage a strike next week. The implementation of a three-year contract offer, covering 2004 through 2007, would be the latest chapter in one of Los Angeles' most bitter and longest-running labor disputes. The union hasn't had a contract since 2004, when negotiations with the city broke off. City officials said the proposed move would send a clear message that they will not negotiate with the union, which has a reputation for dramatic and confrontational tactics.
See "L.A. Could Impose Union Contract", Joe Mathews and Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2006