The City of Long Beach has reached a tentative agreement with its largest labor union – the International Association of Machinists (IAM).
“This agreement is a good deal for Long Beach because we don’t increase salaries and pensions, but instead provide some one-time support to the hard working men and women who clean our streets, fix our sidewalks, maintain our parks, and help our families in our libraries,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “I want to thank the IAM leadership for stepping up and working with us to craft a responsible and balanced contract.”
The tentative agreement provides a non-pensionable one-time payment equal to 3 percent of the employees’ base salary from the 12 previous months, and does not include any ongoing obligations.
“While the Union is disappointed in the proposal because it does not reflect the value of our members, nor their contributions toward making Long Beach a great city, we are hopeful the City of Long Beach will work the IAM toward bringing about fairness, respect, and equity for the men and women who make this city run,” said Richard Suarez, IAM Chief Negotiator.
The IAM membership is set to vote on the agreement on Monday, Aug. 31. If approved, the agreement would go before the city council for final approval on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
The agreement extends the current contract for a one-year period, retroactively from Oct. 1, 2014 through Sept. 30, 2015. It is the third amendment to the IAM agreement, originally approved in October 2007. The IAM represents approximately 3,500 city employees who provide Long Beach residents with core city services, including trash collection, library services, water and gas utilities, public health services, and many more.
The one-time cost of the agreement in Fiscal Year 2015 is $1.9 million in the General Fund, which will be funded by the General Fund Surplus. Impact to special funds, such as Airport, Harbor, Water, Gas & Oil, etc. totals $3.8 million.
