Forging and Sustaining a Partnership at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Abstract

Absent a " burning platform," it is often said of insulated public bureaucracies that the perceived need for change hovers near zero. In 1995, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP, or the " Department" ) and its largest union, Local 1 8 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), smelled the smoke and sensed the floorboards giving way. Only by forging and sustaining a labor-management partnership have the Department and union been able to avert a major institutional crisis.