Employees at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, whose union is the single biggest contributor in the current mayoral race, earned average total pay of nearly $100,000 in 2011, according to a Times analysis of the most recent publicly available payroll data.
That's more than 50% higher than the average total pay of all other city employees, The Times found. It's also about 25% higher than employees at comparable public and private utilities, according to a report commissioned by the City Council last year.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents the vast majority of employees at the DWP, has made itself a key player and a central issue in the campaign by giving $1.45 million to an independent effort to elect mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel. That has made the union by far the largest single source of cash in the race. (Read more here.)
-cw
CityWatch
5-2-13
