Municipal workers — who handle everything from street and parks maintenance, water and sewer service to garbage collection — staged an informational picket Thursday afternoon aimed at drawing attention to what they believe are inadequate pay increase offers in contract negotiations with the City of Manteca.
They were joined — for a first in Manteca politics — by a candidate for the City Council.
Lei Ann Varletta Larson, who is challenging former city employee and incumbent Dave Breitenbucher in the Nov. 3 race for the District 3 seat, carried a sign reading, “City of Manteca unfair to Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3.”
“The City of Manteca is financially sound, and the public should be made aware that providing fair-market, comparable wages for this essential workforce can be done without negatively impacting the City and its residents,” said Local 3 Senior Business Rep. Mike De Anda in a press release.
“ . . . Please don’t allow these workers to have to quit their jobs to find better paying ones elsewhere. If the skilled and trained workforce that keeps the City running, leaves, who will fill these gaps? Possibly untrained workers, who may compromise the safety and security of our residents.”
The Operating Engineers along with Technical Support Services are the two remaining municipal bargaining groups yet to ink a new labor contract with the City of Manteca.
“Out of respect for the ongoing negotiation process, I will be limited in what I can share publicly. I also want to acknowledge and respect our employees’ right to peacefully picket and make their voices heard as part of this process,” Mayor Gary Singh noted in a posting.
“As your Mayor, I have a responsibility to be a responsible financial steward of city funds and to consider the long-term financial well-being of our city and our ratepayers. That responsibility is not always easy, particularly when balancing the needs of the community with our commitment to the employees who work hard every day to serve it.”
“I am committed to finding that balance and doing what is best for the entire city. We are working diligently to reach a fair agreement that recognizes the value of our employees and their contributions, while also protecting our ratepayers and safeguarding the City’s long term financial health.”
The Operating Engineers workers plan to voice their concerns at the Tuesday, Aug. 18, City Council meeting taking place at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Yosemite Ave.
The union contends the city’s proposal is not aligned with inflation and cost-of-living increases.
At the same time, they point out, members in mid management where Operating Engineer workers they supervise often make as much as supervisors that “received extraordinary increases.”
All seven bargaining units for the 10 years that includes police, fire and mid-management have received the same cost of living raises — 2% for 2016, 2% for 2017, 2% for 2018, 2.5% for 2019, 3% for 2020, 2% for 2021, 1% of 2022, 2% of 2023, 2% for 2024, 3% for 2025.
Keep in mind that is not all of the pay raises that city employees get. They receive pay bumps as they work throughout the years when they reach longevity marks until such time that they max out and are on top of the pay scale for their position.
They also can receive pay increases as they successfully complete additional education and/or training.
The City Council last year commissioned an extensive salary survey as well as a classification study as the city had been having issues with securing qualified applicants for a number of positions.
The result, as reflected in the five contracts that have been inked, was a minimum increase of at least 2 percent a year so that everyone would receive an annually cost of living wage over the three-year contract.
At the same time — based on the situation of each bargaining unit such as pay compaction and being under the salary survey median — that 2 percent minimum floor would be adjusted upward until such time it brought positions up to the median.
The maximum depends on negotiations although the city has apparently indicated they prefer not to go above 7% a year for any position but that is not cast in stone.
The city’s Operating Engineers employees are split between general fund services — parks and streets maintenance and such — as well was enterprise fund services supported by ratepayers such as sewer, waste, and solid waste.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
