Compromise is on the horizon after four months of back and forth
between City Hall and Gilroy’s municipal workers union, according
to one union member who asked not to be named.
Gilroy – Compromise is on the horizon after four months of back and forth between City Hall and Gilroy’s municipal workers union, according to one union member who asked not to be named.
Talks between the city and the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees have dragged on since March due to scheduling conflicts and squabbles of exact numbers, but AFSCME negotiators are hoping for resolution by the end of the month.
“It had been going horribly, and then finally, after this last go-around on July 31, we actually made some progress,” the union member said. “But we haven’t agreed on an exact percentage.”
The AFSCME member said the union is holding out for a 4-percent pay hike after fire and police union received a 3 percent raise July 1. The next barraging date is scheduled for Aug. 22.
The negotiations come amid recent controversy over top-ranking city administrators receiving raises under a new pay plan that ensures bosses make 15 percent more than their employees and 10 percent more than comparable officials in nearby cities.
While the new pay plan is still working itself out, Councilman Dion Bracco said he didn’t agree with the union member’s negative characterization, adding that “the city is going through the negotiation process with the union, and we’re not going to carry it out in the media.”
The AFSCME member was more forthcoming.
“From a union perspective, we are very concerned with the large raises executive managers have gotten,” the member said, “and things change every day on whether the city has enough money to buy Gilroy Gardens and whether union employees will end up taking the short end of the stick.”
The city is currently exploring financing options to purchase the 536 acres Gilroy Gardens sits on for $13.1 million. Money for this potential purchase could come from a variety of sources, one of which is the city’s general fund, according to Assistant City Administrator Anna Jatczak, but she says the fund, which pays the bulk of city employees’ salaries, is the most unattractive financing option.
While Gilroy Gardens is a particular issue now, union negotiations occur every two or three years and determine “cost of living adjustments” that keep employee salaries in step with inflation.
The fire union struck their last COLA deal with the city in November 2006, and the police union wrapped up negotiations in March. Both parties received 3-percent COLA increases July 1, but the approximately 170 AFSCME employees – including the city’s equipment mechanic, building inspector and the deputy fire marshal – are currently working under an extenuated contract from January 2006 that rewarded them a 2.5 percent COLA that year.
When the council raised pay ceilings in April to accomplish the above 15-percent standard, a $13,789 raise went to Human Resources Director and Risk Manager Leann McPhillips, who has contracted labor lawyer Charles Sakai to negotiate with the three unions on the city’s behalf. Officials said abrupt upward shifts in pay were unusual and due to the fact that employees such as McPhillips were reclassified as a high-level managers after years of lagging behind their subordinates’ pay raises.
Councilman Craig Gartman said Sakai’s role is necessary because the new salary plan translates union pay hikes into raises for the city’s top 42 administrators, known as the exempt group. McPhillips is one of the 42, meaning she receives COLA increases in tow with the unions so her salary remains 15 percent higher than her employees’.
“[Sakai] is a lawyer who specializes in labor negotiations, and he provides the legal background necessary for the city to negotiate,” Gartman said. “Given the new structure under which exempt administrators benefit from what unions negotiate, I don’t believe we should be having any exempt employees bargaining for their own potential increase in benefits.”
Gartman has warned that the 15-percent plan is postponing a politically harmful budget crisis before Baksa’s planned retirement later this year.
“We need to be consistent in our practices when it pertains to the employees, instead of treating some employees as second class citizens and others as people who belong on pedestals,” Gartman said.
