By Andrew Perry President, Artesia Local 1520 Vice President, AFSCME District Council 36 Artesia, California - City employees had to do a double take when the City Council decided to offer handsome salary increases for two managers in particular, while maintaining historic low salaries for all other employees. As union president, I take the philosophy of transparent local government to heart. Many Artesians have expressed to me the approval of not just the fight for the City in 2021, but also the reasons behind it - that employees were concerned about the City's finances and the ability of the City to serve its residents. Recent events have again raised concerns about transparency, particularly in light of the roles these two managers played in 2021, when the City was under a different city manager, whom employees contend ran the City like a mafia boss. How Two High Level Managers Compromise Artesia's Integrity When every employee rebelled against the former City Manager for...

  District Attorney George Gascon ANDREW PERRY  Los Angeles, California - In an era filled with false charges of election fraud, people might think District Attorney George Gascon would have been eager to prosecute an actual case of election fraud in his own backyard, in the city of Artesia, located in southeast Los Angeles County. Ironically, he is choosing not to.  Election fraud is a common accusation these days. Former President Donald Trump still claims that’s how he lost the 2020 election, despite there being no evidence to support the claim. Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake claimed it too, but still - no evidence. So far, there have been few legit cases of election fraud. However, when a legitimate case of election fraud came in the city of Artesia came before Attorney General George Gascon after an almost year long investigation by the LA County Sheriff's Public Corruptions Unit, what did Gascon do? Nothing. In fact, he seems to actively be avoiding the case....

  Cerritos, California - Cerritos City Manager Art Gallucci is struggling to explain why he authorized an almost $50,000 salary increase for the Assistant City Clerk. This striking salary increase only came to light when an anonymous memo was sent to "All City Employees and City Councilmembers", under the subject line "Ensuring Transparency in Employee Promotions and Salary Survey." The memo is dated May 10, 2023 and is from "An Extremely Dissatisfied and Disheartened Employee."  A Mysterious Memo The memo alleges that City Clerk Vida Barone influenced two councilmembers (Mayor Bruce Barrows and Councilmember Chuong Vo) to instruct Gallucci to authorize the increase. The Eye On Pioneer could not verify if councilmembers would have any say in this. Salary and employment is heavily regulated, and only the City Manager can authorize such an increase. What's upsetting Cerritos employees is that the City is currently in the middle of a salary survey.  A s...

  Compton, California - City of Compton's manager Thomas Thomas (yes, that's his name) offered the City's own employees from AFSCME Local 3947 zero salary increases over a three year period. The union is now at an impasse. On May 23, employees and allies attended the City Council meeting to let their voices be known. This is the first step in an issue that is likely to escalate if these employees are not offered a fair contract.  #afscme #union #cityofcompton #comptonca

Andrew Perry AFSCME District Council 36 Vice President, District IV Los Angeles County Superior Courts (LASC) is weathering a scandal after a report commissioned by LASC’s own consultant found that the management of LASC’s 4,600 employees is “subpar”. AFSCME union employees submitted an information request for a document called “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Assessment Report” on March 13. The report, conducted by Richard D. Harvey and R&K Harvey, LLC, found that court employees were working in a retaliatory and hostile work environment under former Executive Officer Sherri R. Carter. When the union received the DEI, they noticed it was dated August 12, 2022. Carter had resigned a month after that date, in September 2022. LASC’s Own Management Commissioned The Report Almost like a plot twist, it was LASC’s management under Carter that had commissioned Harvey as a consultant to inspect the LASC. LASC didn’t like the findings, and it’s easy to understand why the findings wer...

  Torrance, California - Torrance employees and several members of allied union Locals packed a Torrance City Council meeting to deliver some important news: the City's ongoing mismanagement is leading to high turnover, and that the situation is reaching a crisis point. The status of a 'full service City' is now at risk. Prior to packing the house, AFSCME 1117 David Inez said he wants everyone too be positive and friendly, because the City Council is the last hope to keep Torrance a "full service City".  Union Representative Bob Adams said there are several city services that are close to being shut down due to lack of staffing. When asked about whether he is looking to steer Torrance away from being a full service city, City Manager Aram Chaparyan denied it. Other union locals who showed up in support of Torrance employees are Artesia 1520, Bellflower 3745, Carson 809, Lawndale 1895, Los Angeles 3090 and Los Angeles Metro 3634. United Steelworkers 675 was also i...

Tom McCabe, Freedom Foundation President   Artesia, California - Sitting in front of Artesia City Hall, a college student in his 20s passes out flyers suggesting that city employees not pay their union dues. However, a brief conversation with the union’s president revealed that the  student volunteer had been lied to. When a union member asked what he was doing, the student  said that the Freedom Foundation had convinced him that unions are unfairly using member money to finance political campaigns, and that the best way to counter that was for union members to opt out of their union dues. The Freedom Foundation is an organization funded by conservative billionaires with the intent of weakening worker resolve, and creating a cheap and underpaid workforce. Artesia union members were kind to the gentleman, but notified AFSCME Local 1520 President Andrew Perry that someone was passing the information out. "I spoke to the guy for about five minutes," said Perry, "and what w...