Mayor blames outsourcing delay on Aguirre advice
Source: By Ron Powell, UNION-TRIBUNE (CA), 4:38 p.m. August 27, 2008
Mayor Jerry Sanders said Wednesday that his voter-approved plan to outsource some city jobs will be delayed by months because a state administrative law judge has ruled the city acted improperly during negotiations with labor unions - something the mayor blamed on bad advice from City Attorney Michael Aguirre.
....... The mayor said he will likely have to reopen negotiations with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 127, the city's blue-collar union, and the Municipal Employees Association, the city's largest union, over the rules for outsourcing.
........ AFSCME Local 127 filed a complaint with the state Public Employee Relations Board in early 2007, alleging that the city had negotiated in bad faith on the outsourcing issue. In the summer of 2007, the MEA joined the legal action.