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Approval of Collective Bargaining Agreement with AFSCME Local 624
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Bargaining teams for the Water Authority and AFSCME Local 624, which represents 317 Water Authority blue collar employees, have been negotiating a successor collective bargaining agreement in the past two months. The teams were quickly able to focus upon and resolve the few existing issues with previous contract language and move to the discussion of economic issues. On May 18, 2016, the bargaining teams reached tentative agreement on a complete successor agreement and on June 8, 2016, the Union membership voted to ratify that tentative agreement. If approved by this Board, the successor Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is a three year agreement, effective July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019.
The Water Authority’s Labor Management Relations Ordinance requires the Board to approve any contract which exceeds the total amount appropriated for wages and benefits for the current fiscal year or which contains a multi-year contract.
The major economic portions of the successor CBA are as follows:
Wages In each year of three years of the CBA, each blue collar employee will receive an increase in pay equal to 2% of their base pay. In addition, employees who have not received a disciplinary demotion in the past year will receive a one-time ½ % lump sum payment in the first quarter of FY17.
Benefits
No change.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Over the long term, the wage increases included in the CBA will be manageable within the Water Authority’s financial plan. The impact of the CBA is within the 2% projection in expenditures over the next three years. The additional one-time ½ % is possible based on other financial savings which have been realized.