Politics and Labor in an Election Year

Mayor Villaraigosa may be a child of the union movement, but he couldn't stop today's first strike in a generation by his own city employees. Hundreds of Los Angeles' engineers and architects walked off their jobs today at crime labs, sewage treatment plants, animal shelters and airports. Union members picketed City Hall and other municipal buildings. Meantime, Governor Schwarzenegger may be a Republican, but he's defied some business interests in a deal with Democrats to raise the minimum wage. You can't tell political players anymore – even with a program! We thread our way through a changing political environment.