Workers Comp

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Hd Will the Party Last?

L.A. threw an impressive party last week in its bid for the 2000 Democratic National Convention, and it was encouraging to hear so many out-of-town honchos say so many nice things about our city. At this point, Los Angeles seems to stand a good chance of getting the conclave providing a welcome opportunity to showcase not only the new Staples Center downtown, but L.A.’s economic rebound.

The question, of course, is what L.A.’s economy will look like in two years. Will the momentum being generated by a slew of high-visibility construction projects, along with the potential revival of Hollywood, the continued dominance of manufacturing, and the increasing importance of multimedia, all provide enough stimulus to last into the 21st century?

Maybe. But economies, no matter how strong or diversified, are also dynamic. They change sometimes for the better, sometimes not. It’s pretty much accepted, for example, that the Asian economic troubles are starting to affect local manufacturing operations for how long and to what extent is anyone’s guess. The entertainment industry stumbled a bit in the past few months, in part due to concerns about Asia, as well as a strike threat by the Screen Actors Guild. And aerospace remains a wild card for Los Angeles, especially in commercial and military aircraft.

None of these concerns even approach the profound retrenchment and restructuring of L.A.’s economy in the early to mid ’90s. In fact, Hollywood production appears to be on an upswing, now that the SAG contract has been settled. But an economy as complicated as this one defies easy summation.

And yet, an oversimplified story line is starting to develop in some circles. It goes something like this: The economy is going great guns and lots of people are getting rich, but not enough dollars are trickling down to the lower classes. It’s therefore time to lobby city officials and local businesses about sharing the wealth.

The gambit began last year with the city’s misguided Living Wage ordinance and continues today through union-led initiatives involving several high-profile projects, namely the expansion of Universal Studios and LAX and the redevelopment of Hollywood. In essence, the message is: We’ll work with you, but

TrizecHahn, which is developing the new Academy Theater complex near Mann’s Chinese Theater, capitulated to the demands of L.A. City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg architect of the Living Wage ordinance that 700 to 800 staff positions be unionized. In addition, retailers that lease space in the shopping complex must consider Hollywood residents first when staffing up and those staffers must, of course, receive the living wage.

When developers really want to do a deal as TrizecHahn clearly does in remaking Hollywood they can be easy marks. That, and the redevelopment breaks that TrizecHahn itself is receiving, can be the only explanations for such ludicrous concessions. What it shows is how local prosperity has resulted in a manipulation of traditional marketplace values an effort being fed by a few liberal council members and an increasingly potent coalition of unions.

The business community has remained its usual mum self, accommodating the activists when necessary. Of course, it’s easy to be accommodating when the economy is looking good. But what happens when growth slows, and it’s not so palatable to keep hiring? What happens when it’s time to start firing? What happens when credit lines start drying up? These are not idle hypotheticals but tried-and-true inevitabilities too inevitable for business and labor to ignore.

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