Five months of back and forth between City Hall and Gilroy’s
municipal workers union has yielded a
”
win-win
”
situation, according to officials on both sides of the table who
were involved in the negotiations.
Gilroy – Five months of back and forth between City Hall and Gilroy’s municipal workers union has yielded a “win-win” situation, according to officials on both sides of the table who were involved in the negotiations.
Talks between the city and the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees took so long because of scheduling conflicts and squabbles over exact numbers, but both parties have agreed on a 12 percent raise for AFSCME’s 122 workers over the three-year contract starting July 1, 2007. More than 80 percent of the 80 AFSCME members who voted on the deal approved it.
In August, an AFSCME member who asked not be identified said the union was holding out for a 4-percent pay hike after fire and police union received a 3 percent raise July 1.
At that time the negotiations were especially sensitive since controversy was building over top-ranking city employees receiving raises under a new pay plan. The plan ensures that the top-level employees make 15 percent more than their subordinates and 10 percent more than comparable officials in nearby cities. City officials have said the goal is to revive morale and to retain and recruit the best quality employees.
Regardless, union negotiations occur every two to three years and determine cost of living adjustments that keep employee salaries in step with inflation. The police and fire unions are the city’s only other unions.
This month’s agreement also guarantees that AFSCME employees who take relevant classes will receive up to $1,000 reimbursement from the city, up $300 from before. The agreement also places a 5 percent cap on the annual increase of employee contributions to the city’s medical insurance program.
Money for the raises comes from the city’s general fund, which is currently $4.7 million in the red, but city officials are working on a debt reduction plan for the discretionary pot and have cautioned that projected deficits in the past have ultimately dropped.
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 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.
The city council must approve AFSCME’s most recent deal at their Oct. 15 meeting for it to go into effect.
When the council raised pay ceilings in April to accomplish the 15-percent salary standard, a $13,789 raise went to Human Resources Director and Risk Manager LeeAnn 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 has said Sakai’s role is necessary because the new salary plan translates union pay hikes into raises for the city’s top 42 employees, known as the “exempt group” because they can’t form a union or work overtime. 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.’
But last week McPhillips said the 3 percent raise won’t be enough for AFSCME’s highest paid employee, Communications Supervisor Steve Ynzunza, to jeopardize the more-than 15 percent window between him and his supervisor, Gilroy Police Captain Debra Moore.
Last year Ynzunza, who is also AFSCME’s president, earned a base salary of $99,389 and another $14,364 in overtime, for a total of $113,753, according to city figures. Moore, who can’t work overtime since she’s part of the exempt group, earned $146,125, nearly 32 percent more than Ynzunza’s base salary.
“I am very pleased. Although the process went a little longer than we had hoped, the final agreement is one that the council supports,” Mayor Al Pinheiro said in a press release.
