eNewsletter - February 8, 2008
San Francisco Unions and City Reach Historic Agreement
The Coalition for Pension Reform (CPR), which includes every major union and represents over 20,000 CCSF employees, including Local 21, reached an agreement for changes in retiree health insurance and a package of improvements in retiree benefits.
The agreement includes a 12 month extension of all city employee contracts that must be ratified by members of each union. After passing that test, the proposal will be placed on the June 3, 2008, ballot and must be approved by the voters.
While new employees will continue to enjoy the same retiree health benefits as current city employees and receive the new retiree benefit improvements as well, they will have to work longer for the city to qualify for retiree health, and will pay 2% into a retiree health fund. At a later date, the unions can negotiate to share the 2%, which would lower the amount any one person has to pay and eliminate the differential between new and current employees.
However, new employees still will be required to work longer to vest in the program. As reluctant as the city employee unions were to make these changes, CPR leaders were convinced that with the cost of retiree health insurance skyrocketing in the last few years - from around $20 million to $124 million adding to a long term City liability of $4.3 billion for retiree health - our jobs, future salary increases, and health benefits - as well as the overall financial health of the city - would be threatened if left unchecked.
While there was an initial sentiment that we might have the political leverage to kill any negative action in the short term, over time everyone became convinced the problem was not going to go away and that a future attack would be imminent. The overwhelming consensus was that we very well might have seen more severe cuts in retiree health without the improvement in retirement, such as were proposed three months ago by the Mayor at the start of the discussions.
CPR had the best actuarial and legal advice. CPR kept all the member unions united and working hard from the start and the member unions spent over 3 months studying and discussing various options. Now it is up to our members, the members of other unions and, in June, the voters, to weigh in.
Oakland Gearing Up for Negotiations
January 30th was a big day for Local 21 members in the City of Oakland. First, Local 21 held a noontime Membership Mobilization Meeting in City Council Chambers attracting an overflow crowd. Michele Byrd, President of the Supervisors & Managers chapter (units H&M), mc'd a program that included a PowerPoint presentation and speakers who talked about the work we've done to prepare for negotiations, what we can expect in the coming months, and the roll out of the Local 21 Contract Campaign.
Jeff Levin, Vice President for Oakland, spoke about the results of the bargaining survey and the important preparatory work done last Fall by the Local 21 members who participated in the weekly 'Know Your Contract' workshops. Local 21 field staff, Subha Varadarajan and Vickie Carson, spoke about the political and economic climate we will be bargaining in and the importance of building Contract Action Teams at each worksite. Over 70 people signed up for the CAT teams on the spot and we will conduct trainings for both CAT and bargaining team members later this month. Local 21 staffer Joe Brenner and Michele Byrd closed with a presentation on the different elements of the contract campaign that will come together for our success in Oakland. After the meeting Local 21 members were excited and ready to GO!
On the evening of January 30th, Part 2 of the Equity Adjustment Training series was held for Oakland members who wanted more in-depth training and hands-on support in preparing proposals for upcoming bargaining. Over 30 members representing a broad spectrum of job classifications attended, and everyone received a copy of Local 21's new manual "Making the Case for Equity Adjustments". Local 21 research gurus Anjali Asrani and Joe Brenner were on hand to discuss with members the challenges that arise when conducting salary surveys, effective research recommendations and successful strategies to help our members gain more equitable wages in their classifications. Work will continue over the next several months.
Proposition A Approved by Voters in San Francisco
San Francisco residents overwhelmingly voted in favor of Proposition A, which will generate badly needed funding for the City's parks and open spaces. Our union had endorsed Proposition A, which won with over 71 percent of the vote.
This proposition will provide $185 million for open space, parks, and recreation centers across the city, and will create plenty of work for our CCSF-based members. Prop A will rebuild playgrounds, fix restrooms in parks, repair recreation centers with seismic problems, reconstruct athletic fields, build waterfront parks along the eastern side of San Francisco, and repair trails in natural landscapes.
Delegate Assembly Hears about Sacramento Woes and
Bargaining Team Triumphs
The first Delegate Assembly of 2008 was held last Saturday in Berkeley with a strong turnout and an informative agenda which included political updates and discussion about bargaining strategies.
The assembly heard a political report from Barry Broad, our legislative advocate in Sacramento, about the flailing over healthcare reform, the fight for term limit 'reform' and other items of interest. Broad outlined the problems facing the state with regards to the looming budget deficit, estimated to be approximately $14 billion, and how there is truly no revenue stashed away to come to the rescue.
The assembly featured a panel discussion comprised of members from around the Bay Area discussing strategies and winning formulas for successful bargaining. Members spoke about platforms, campaigns, and new approaches, all of which led to winning combinations in MOU negotiations as well as coalition bargaining around issues.
The next Delegate Assembly is scheduled for June in San Francisco.
New Website Goes Live
For those who have not checked our website lately, the Local 21 website is up and running with a new design and a more user friendly layout. New to the site is a Retirement Resources page which contains several useful and informative pieces compiled by our Research staff. The Latest News section is regularly updated, and we will be posting information about recent research under a soon-to-be unveiled Research Department section.
Coming soon will be a new option for making political donations to the T.J. Anthony Fund through a PayPal process.
L21 Express is the bi-weekly email publication of IFPTE Local 21. Local 21 represents more than 7,000 Bay Area professional public employees. Main Office Phone: 415.864.2100 South Bay Phone: 408.291.2200
