The city has nearly reached a deal with the fire union that
would avoid layoffs but partially shutter Sunrise Fire Station. The
city also is nearing a compromise with police after city and union
officials met late into Monday night.
The city has nearly reached a deal with the fire union that would avoid layoffs but partially shutter Sunrise Fire Station. The city also is nearing a compromise with police after city and union officials met late into Monday night.
The details of Fire Local 2805’s proposal remain sealed until the union’s 33 firefighters ratify it later this week or early next week, Representative Jim Buessing said. One council member with knowledge of the offer said it included the occasional shuttering of Sunrise Fire Station – Gilroy’s third and least busy station in north Gilroy near Day Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard.
After a closed session Monday, Mayor Al Pinheiro announced the council approved the tentative deal 6-1, with Councilman Craig Gartman voting against.
“I want to thank the firefighters for coming to the table and offering to make such deep cuts so we could avoid layoffs,” Councilman Perry Woodward said. “I was really on the fence, but I couldn’t in good conscious go against it.”
Buessing said he was “pleased” the council was “willing to push forth with this.”
Police Officers’ Association President Mitch Madruga said the union’s undisclosed proposal prevents “layoffs to our already understaffed department … (and) it will allow us to hang on to three POA members who are right now seeking employment at other agencies.” While no police officers lost their jobs in the last round of layoffs in January, the department lost 14 support positions, and two officers have since accepted jobs with the Watsonville Police Department amid uncertainties surrounding their positions, which will remain unfilled, Police Chief Denise Turner said.
About 30 patrol officers belong to the 58-member union that also includes detectives and administrative staff who do not patrol the streets.
“The POA is in a much different position than the other bargaining groups. We can’t close down our shop every other Friday. We have certain staffing levels that need to be maintained so there are enough officers on the street 24 hours a day 7 days a week. And we’re at the end of our contract with no future raises to bargain with,” Madruga said.
To avoid layoffs, AFSCME forfeited two 2-percent raises worth about $400,000 that were promised to its members over the next year. Local 2805 has a 7.5 percent raise worth about $450,000 stretching through 2011 to bargain with. The POA had no such promised raises.
“If we take more layoffs, I fear Gilroy’s police force will reach a historically minimal level of service,” Madruga said. “We are one tragedy away from being right back here asking ourselves ‘what happened?'”
Gartman and Woodward voted against approving a separate agreement with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 101 – Gilroy’s largest union ranging from city engineers to emergency dispatchers – Monday night that will lower employees’ salaries by about 9 percent annually over the next two years thanks to furlough and raise forfeitures. Councilwoman Cat Tucker joined Woodward and Gartman in rejecting similar 9-percent agreements with the Gilroy Management Association and Gilroy’s non-unionized, high-ranking staff. Tucker said she voted against the proposals because she wanted to see deeper cuts from the higher-ups. The council originally asked for 16 percent cuts from all unions.
The agreements so far will lower next fiscal year’s deficit by $1.6 million down to $3.6 million. The city has a $37 million budget.
The agreements restored merit-based raises – known as “step increases” – due to employees between March and June that the council froze in February after learning that dozens of workers had been given raises while 48 of their colleagues were laid off. However, merit-based raises, “cost-of-living adjustments” and tuition reimbursements will all cease July 1.
“I think we stepped up to what you asked for and then some,” said AFSCME President Gary Muraoka.
Since 2000, his union members have received a 38 percent increase in compensation, according to city figures Gartman presented to his colleagues. Fire has enjoyed the same increase, and police officers have seen their compensation increase by 40 percent over the past nine years. The management group received a 35 percent increase while non-unionized employees received 32 percent and the council received 20 percent. Over the same period, the consumer price index for western cities of Gilroy’s size has increased by 24 percent, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor.
While Gilroy has typically relied on its robust reserve fund to resolve financial hiccups, council members have said they are unwilling to further drain the rainy day fund after a $4.7 million hit last year and an expected $8.4 million reduction by the end of the current fiscal. The fund will hold about $13.6 million next fiscal year, or about 36 percent of expenses. The fund will have to cover any general fund shortfalls left after union talks.
Status of city-union negotiations
Gilroy Police Officers’ Association, 58 members
-Talks ongoing with union offering $1 million in undisclosed, non-personnel cuts
-Eight sworn officers’ jobs on the line
-Two positions to be left unfilled
-Union representatives eyeing city reserve fund
-Council has directed staff Monday night to keep talking with union representatives
Fire Local 2805, 33 members
-Council approved the union’s proposal, which remains sealed until the union ratifies it
-Proposal includes the occasional closing of Sunrise Fire Station
-Union eyeing reserve fund
-Six firefighters’ jobs likely spared
Gilroy Manager’s Association, 23 members
-Union approved furloughs and temporary pay cuts to save $300,000
-Saved four positions
AFSCME, 103 members
-Union approved furloughs and temporary pay cuts to save $1.1 million
-Saved 13 positions
Gilroy non-unionized Employees, 7 members
-Includes city administrator and department heads
-Agreed to furloughs and temporary pay cuts to save $200,000
Source: City of Gilroy, unions and council members
