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Thirty-six supervisorial and management employees of the city of Menlo Park would receive a 3 percent increase in base salaries under a tentative agreement with the city on a new two-year labor contract, the city announced Oct. 5. The employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

This tentative agreement, reached Sept. 29, three months after expiration of the former contract on June 30, also contains a one-time $1,000 bonus and a 3 percent increase in the city’s contribution to “cafeteria” benefits accounts, used by most employees for medical insurance. Reimbursements previously given for childcare and recreation would be added to these accounts.

Further, the city would pay for vision insurance coverage, pending approval by all other employees represented by a union.

The agreement will go before the City Council for possible ratification Oct. 20.

Dave Bertini, the city’s interim human resources director, said the city has hired the consultant Koff and Associates to study the city’s job classifications and compensation to determine if pay is aligned with market rates. The consultant has surveyed employees and is now in the process of interviewing employees one-on-one. The process is expected to be completed in early 2016.

From March 1 to June 1, 2016, salary negotiations would be allowed to take place again. If agreement is not reached on changes to job classifications and compensation, all employees will receive an additional 2 percent raise.

Mr. Bertini said that the demand for well-qualified employees in Menlo Park is significant, and that it can be a challenge for the city to retain employees long-term with such a strong local job market.

“We’re continuing to try to bring our employees a salary and benefits package that will be competitive,” he said.

Details of the proposed contract is in the city’s staff report.

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3 Comments

  1. Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to contract workers, of which there are many for the city. They must pay union dues, but get no raises and no guarantee of a job. Many contract workers have been on the books for over 10 years, with no hope of being hired on permanently. When do these poor strung along souls get a break?

  2. There is nothing fair in government. Do away with unions, and being more competitive would be a good start, but this will never be. It’s government.

  3. “Do away with unions”

    Funny that conservatives want to Make America Great Again, and hark back to the 50’s and 60’s – the very heyday of worker protections and the unions that built the American working class.

    And, of course, doing away with government worker unions is a direct rebuttal of the work of Ronald Reagan. It was Ronnie who signed the bill allowing municipal unions in California. He also said: “Where Free Unions and Collective Bargaining are Forbidden, Freedom is Lost” in a 1980 Labor Day speech.

    Reagan remains the only president to have belonged to a union, spending six terms as president of the AFL/CIO related SAG. He led a strike, fergoshsakes! http://www.sagaftra.org/ronald-reagan

    Beat up those scabs, Ronnie!

    Patco? Well, Ronnie had to say things to get elected and then break those promises to serve the corporate masters who donated to his campaigns; here is his Big Campaign Lie – https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4f/c4/02/4fc40249ad3b653c1829b704c8b5b430.jpg

    Working Americans deserve and have earned the right to organize. History proves it’s good for America.

    Make America Great Again – Unionize

    Last word belongs to the big dude in the Fiat, Il Papa:

    “Not paying fairly, not giving a job because you are only looking at how to make a profit — that goes against God”

    …… Pope Francis

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