The fate of 77 city employee positions will be on the line during the Berkeley City Council’s meeting Tuesday as council members decide whether to authorize the city manager to sign a labor agreement forged by the city manager and two local labor unions.
City employees, including those represented by two different unions – Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Public Employees Union, Local 1 (PEU1) – have agreed to take cuts in hours or to take time off without pay in order to generate funds needed to retain the 77 positions scheduled for termination. The jobs would be eliminated in an attempt to lessen the city’s expected $16.2 million budget shortfall.
Of the 77 positions that could be on the chopping block if the agreement is not signed, 30 are currently filled.
“We’re very hopeful that we can negotiate and finalize an agreement that both minimizes layoffs and helps us to balance the budget,” said Councilmember Gordon Wozniak.
If the proposal is signed, the city would postpone all city layoffs for the duration of the agreement, according to city spokesperson Mary Kay Clunies-Ross.
“(Under the proposal) there won’t be any layoffs at all for the next nine or 10 months,” she said. “We will not be eliminating any services.”
Under the proposal, the city would continue to provide those employees who voluntarily cut their hours with benefits – such as sick leave or health insurance coverage – at the same rate as full-time employees.
However, leave accruals and seniority would be adjusted in accordance with the employee’s schedule.
The agreement also promises certain employees at risk of termination three to six months of extended health coverage if they retire on or before Nov. 30.
A significant portion of city employees are unionized. Together, the two chapters of SEIU and PEU1 represent 1,024 of the 1,600 total city employees. City employees are also members of other unions or collective bargaining units, such as the Berkeley Police Association and the Berkeley Firefighters Association.
Representatives from SEIU and PEU1 did not respond to inquiries.
Many, including those without jobs on the line and non-unionized workers, are pitching in to save the positions by retiring early, voluntarily reducing the hours they work or taking time off without pay.
“Those who are represented (by unions) and those who are unrepresented have been searching for ways … to help the city close the gap and not do layoffs and preserve the services offered,” Clunies-Ross said. “Everybody’s stepping up to help the city through this budget time.”
However, even if the agreement is signed, the city will be closing non-essential services two additional days per month, and the positions will only be protected for an additional nine to 10 months.
“This buys us some time,” Clunies-Ross said. “But it doesn’t take any options off the table.”
PEU1 and SEIU have been negotiating with City Manager Phil Kamlarz regularly since May 5 to find a way to prevent the jobs from being eliminated.
Though about 47 of the 77 positions are currently vacant, Clunies-Ross warned that the elimination of a vacant position still has consequences for the city.
“It still has an impact,” she said. “That position would have been providing a service.”