LOS ANGELES - As Wisconsin residents voted Tuesday not to recall Governor Scott Walker - who has become an enemy of labor unions nationwide - two California cities dealt blows of their own to organized labor.

In San Diego and San Jose, voters overwhelmingly approved ballot initiatives designed to help balance ailing municipal budgets by cutting retirement benefits for city workers.

Around 70 percent of San Jose voters favored the pension measure, while 66 percent of San Diego residents supported a similar measure.

“This is really important to our taxpayers,’’ Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose said Tuesday night.

“We’ll get control over these skyrocketing retirement costs and be able to provide the services they are paying for.’’

Public employee unions had fought hard against the two pension overhaul initiatives, which face legal challenges.