City employees rally for new contract City employees rally for new contract (August 06, 2004)

Workers may declare an impasse

By Jon Wiener

The city and its largest employees union have such different perspectives on their current contract negotiations that the two sides cannot even agree on whether they're making progress.

More than 60 members of SEIU local 715 gathered in front of city hall last week, speaking and chanting slogans against what they called the city's proposed "take-aways" to their benefit packages.

The city's contract with the union expired at midnight on July 1. The contract was a one-year extension of a previous contract, which workers agreed to after being offered a one-time bonus. SEIU represents 186 Mountain View city employees.

The 109-member Police Officers Association and the 67-member Mountain View Firefighters Union are each in the midst of six-year contracts, which expire in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Approximately 220 city employees are unaffiliated and are not covered by the city's contracts with any of the unions.

Two of the main issues still in dispute among non-public safety employees are employee contribution levels to post-retirement medical benefits and binding arbitration. The city has increased the cost-of-living adjustment it is offering from 1.5 to 2 percent, while the union has lowered its demand from 3 to 2.5 percent. But little else has happened in the past month. The two sides have met twice this week and plan to meet once more this month.

Kathy Farrar, the city's employee services director said, "We're making steady progress, little by little." Meanwhile, union officials hinted they were close to declaring an impasse or even a strike.

When either side chooses to declare an impasse, an outside mediator from the state comes in to help reach an agreement. The two sides are put in separate rooms while the state mediator serves as a go-between.

The SEIU and city have not reached an agreement in over a decade without first going to an impasse. SEIU work-site coordinator Sascha Eisner said that SEIU has not gone to impasse with any other city in the South Bay over that same time period.

Vice Mayor Matt Neely attended the rally as a spectator, and the workers' signs of protest drew several honks from passing cars.

Even so, Farrar said the city's position was not likely to change as a result.

"It's counterproductive to get involved responding through the press when we really want to spend our energy at the table and reach an agreement," said Farrar. "That's what our goal is, and I hope it's theirs, too."

The union made its first public display in late June, when approximately 60 workers appeared at a city council study session to voice their frustrations. Neely said that the union's presence at the June 29 study session had an impact on council members, by personalizing the contract issues.

"It's typical for management not to react," said parks maintenance worker and union steward Shannon Willis, "but now they know we're organized."

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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