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DOT Union Members Lobby City Council For GM's Lay Off

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — As Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti reviews the city's department heads, some transportation workers are trying to convince him to replace their boss.

The Department of Transportation's Jaime de la Vega is among the general managers still waiting to find out if they will get to keep their jobs.

KNX1070's Claudia Peschiutta reports the Transport Workers Union is out to make sure he doesn't.

DOT Union Members Lobby City Council For GM's Lay Off

Members have gone directly to the mayor's office to air their grievences and now they're lobbying the City Council.

"Employee moral has never been worse," one worker said.

"In my district offices we have 2,200 open requests right now that are expected to be handled by 11-and-a-half engineers," another employee added.

Peschiutta's request for an interview with de la Vega was declined.

A DOT spokesperson sent a statement saying: "The department continues to fine tune the organization based on the resources available and the priorities set by the mayor and the city council."

The lobby comes less than a week after Garcetti called for the resignation of LAFD Chief Brian Cummings and appointed James Feathersone as Acting Chief effective Nov. 1.

Under Cummings' direction, the LAFD was criticized for its slow response times and budget problems.

Garcetti insisted publicly Cummings' resignation was a mutually agreed upon decision.

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