A Sunnyvale public employees group could strike if a labor agreement cannot be reached with the city before April 25, according to its leadership.
After working without an agreement since June 2015, the Sunnyvale Employees Association board of directors voted unanimously April 12 to seek authorization from its members to strike. Members plan to call for a vote Tuesday.
SEA said that as of Monday that 80 percent of SEA members have submitted pledge cards saying they will vote to strike. The city of Sunnyvale said in a statement Monday they sent a letter to the SEA on April 19 urging SEA leadership to return to the bargaining table in an effort to avoid a strike, but have not received a response.
The main point of contention between the bargaining group and the city is over a wage increase. The union originally asked for a 20 percent raise for its members—later lowered to 17 percent, including 4 percent retroactive to the last two years and 13 percent over this fiscal year to 2019—saying raises were deferred in 2009 during the recession to ease the burden on the city. Union leadership says with an improving fiscal picture for the city, wages should rise to help workers catch up to the rising cost of living in the region, which a fact-finding report agreed with.
The city has countered with a 10 percent wage increase as its “last, best and final offer.”
When asked about the possibility of a strike, SEA president John Simontacchi said it is “very likely.”
“It’s not something that we want to happen. We’ve been pushed into this corner,” he said in an interview with this newspaper April 12. “The best thing that could happen is today or tomorrow my phone rings and it’s the city saying, ‘Let’s get this done, let’s get this contract settled, let’s get your contractors doing what they love to do, which is taking care of the residents.’”
SEA represents roughly 485 employees in 170 job classifications, according to the city website.
Many work as planners, librarians, engineers, water pollution control operators, park maintenance workers mechanics and accountants and perform public works maintenance.
During its April 11 meeting, the city council issued a joint-letter endorsing a final offer of a 10 percent wage increase, with 5.5 percent of the increase effective immediately upon adoption and the additional 4.5 percent to be given over the next 15 months.
“The union demand of a 17 percent total compensation increase over four years, offset by a 3 percent pick-up in pension, would cost a minimum $82 million more than the city’s final offer and could potentially lead to employee layoffs, cuts in services and increase in service-related fees,” according to an April 13 statement by the city.
Mayor Glenn Hendricks told this newspaper on April 14 that he is hopeful an agreement could be reached without a strike.
“The city’s position is the last, best and final offer. I’m hoping we can get together and not go through a strike process,” he said. “I don’t think (a strike) is in the best interest of anyone, our residents or our employees. The city has put what we believe is a strong, competitive offer on the table. We value and respect our employees.”
The city and union have been conducting bargaining sessions up to June of 2016, and a fact-finding hearing was held with a state-appointed arbitrator who made a recommendation last week in favor of the SEA’s proposal. According to a release from the SEA, the fact-finder, State of California arbitrator Barry Winograd, ruled in favor of the SEA’s position for a 17 percent raise with workers contributing an additional 3 percent into pensions resulting in a net increase of 14 percent. Mr. Winograde also agreed with SEA’s request for retroactive pay.
The city of Sunnyvale released a statement that was critical of the fact-finder’s recommendation, saying that the fact-finding report “failed to consider how union demands would put the city in a precarious financial position…” The release criticized the report for failing to take into account that “..even with no raise, 10 of 13 SEA job classifications are at or above average when compared to neighboring communities.”
According to the city, SEA employees earned an average of $123,714 in wages and benefits during the last fiscal year.
According to the SEA, its employees have not seen a net wage increase in five years. Previous increases, leaders say, were coupled with rising employee contributions into their CalPERS pensions.
According to union spokesman Dustin DeRollo, most employees fall under the PERS pre-state pension reform category, for which employees’ contribution is 8 percent of their pay. The city currently pays 4 percent of that contribution and employees pay 4 percent.
DeRollo says an increase from 1 percent in 2013 to the current 4 percent coincided with a 3 percent wage increase in 2014, so the majority of SEA members see the pay raise as a wash.
Under the proposal offered by the city, SEA PERS contributions would not change.
