Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has called for the Department of Water and Power and its employees to cool their heated rhetoric and work towards a contract settlement. There have been strike threats by the employees, who seek higher wages. Villaraigosa, appearing at an event marking the 40th anniversary of the Watts riots, said the city does not need labor unrest.
See "Villaraigosa Urges Talks on DWP Contract", Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2005