LOS ANGELES — San Diego's mayor announced Monday that the city has reached tentative multi-year agreements with three labor organizations on pension reform.
The agreement locks in voter-approved pension reform, provides increased health care funding and offers paid parental leave to employees for the first time, among other changes, according to Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
"With these agreements, we are continuing pension reform while at the same time offering fair contracts that include benefits like paid parental leave," Faulconer said in a release.
The savings will enable the city to invest more in neighborhoods by paving roads, building new and improved parks, and keeping libraries and recreation centers open longer, he said.
The new tentative agreements are with the labor organizations representing lifeguards, skilled-trades workers and deputy city attorneys. All agreements are through fiscal year 2020 except for the Deputy City Attorneys Association, which goes through fiscal year 2019.
"This is an exceptionally fair contract that will help improve operations and better protect our beaches and bays," said Lifeguard Chief Rick Wurts in the release.
Proposition B, approved by voters in 2012, allowed pensionable pay increases with two-thirds approval from the City Council.
Each contract will curtail across-the-board salary or pensionable pay increases for fiscal 2017 and 2018, locking in the fourth and fifth year of the five-year pensionable pay freeze consistent with Proposition B, 3.3% compensation increases for parental leave of 160 hours paid time off for the birth, placement or adoption of a child, effective in fiscal 2017, increase in flexible health care benefits of $1,500 in FY2017 and $1,650 in FY2018.
"This agreement is a move in the right direction and will help us continue to retain the highly skilled attorneys who work to protect the public's best interest," said Mark Mercer, President of the Deputy City Attorneys Association.
The new agreements follow previously negotiated contracts for the Police Officers Association and the Municipal Employees Association, which represents white-collar workers. Now, four of the city's six employee groups representing city workers have contracts through FY2020, with the fifth – the Deputy City Attorneys Association – through FY2019. The five-year contracts the City reached with each of its employees groups in 2013 called for negotiations to be reopened this year.
The City continues to negotiate with city's firefighters union on a new contract substantially similar to those approved by the other employee groups. Local 145 has an existing contract through fiscal year 2018 that would continue if a new agreement can't be reached.
