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6 DATE: August 19, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council President and Members of the Estero Municipal Improvement District (EMID) Board of Directors
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City/District Manager
FROM: Diane Pitman, Administrative Services Director
DEPARTMENT: ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
SUBJECT: AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY & MUNICIPAL
EMPLOYEES (AFSCME) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 9, 2024, THROUGH SEPTEMBER 8,
2027
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council/EMID Board of Directors (hereinafter referred to as “City Council”) adopt the attached resolutions (Attachments 1 and 2) approving the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), effective September 9, 2024, through September 8, 2027, for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and approve an appropriation of an additional $200,863 to the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Budget.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The current MOU for employees represented by AFSCME is set to expire on September 8, 2024. The City’s labor negotiation team and the AFSCME negotiation team met several times and reached a tentative agreement on August 6, 2024.
Members of the AFSCME unit ratified the tentative agreement on August 12, 2024.
The good faith efforts of the bargaining teams resulted in the attached three-year agreement that includes increases to compensation (wages and health benefit contributions), a commitment to discuss three items in April 2025, language changes within the contract and in the second year of the agreement adjustments to the Certification Pay program.
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6 BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
The current MOU with AFSCME is set to expire on September 8, 2024. Starting in March 2024, the City/District labor negotiation team continued to negotiate in good faith with the AFSCME negotiation team. After eight negotiation sessions, and over 40 hours of meetings, we were able to reach a tentative agreement within the parameters provided by the City Council. AFSCME brought forward the tentative agreement to their membership, and it was ratified by the group on August 12, 2024. The tentatively agreed upon changes to the MOU are:
Term: Three years, effective September 9, 2024, through September 8, 2027 Wages: Effective September 9, 2024 – a 3.8% increase to base salary.
Effective September 9, 2025, an across-the-board increase based on the April- to-April CPI movement for the Bay Area with a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 5%.
Effective September 9, 2026, an across-the-board increase based on the April- to-April CPI movement for the Bay Area with a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 5%.
Classifications identified in the Koff & Associates classification and compensation study will have market adjustments as other Foster City employees had implemented with an effective date of June 1, 2023.
Flexible Benefit Plan (Medical, Dental, Vision): Effective January 1, 2025, the Employer’s contribution towards the Flexible Benefit Plan will be increased by the percentage increase in the CalPERS Kaiser HMO Basic Premium Region 1 rate for Public Agencies. The contract also states that the Employer’s contribution will be adjusted January 1, 2026 and January 1, 2027 using the same Kaiser plan increase.
Items to Discuss in April 2025:
•Consideration by the parties to implement Juneteenth as an observed holiday.
•Review the VEBA contract language after guidance with an expert in Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(9), including the possibility of employees who retire from the City putting 50% of their sick leave payout into their VEBA account.
•Meet and confer over job descriptions that were recommended by Koff & Associates but may have additional changes from management.
Certification Pay: In the second year of the contract, effective September 9, 2025, additional opportunity for certification pay has been established by adding job knowledge and safety related certifications to the eligibility list with an increase in the maximum amount per year from $750 to $1,000. 4 5
6 Language Revision: Revised language regarding the grievance process and arbitration process in line with other local cities in San Mateo County and our San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department.
Staff is recommending the City Council approve the MOU with an effective date of September 9, 2024 (Attachment 3). Upon adoption, negotiation team members will sign the attached MOU and staff will implement the provisions of the MOU.
California Environmental Quality Act
Not Applicable
FISCAL IMPACT
The City Council adopted the FY 2024-2025 budget which included a 3% placeholder increase in wages for the AFSCME employees. The additional 0.8% and provisions negotiated in this agreement require a supplemental budget appropriation of $200,863 to various funds as noted below.
Amount
General Fund 001 $153,670 General Fund 003 $ 5,552 CalOpps Fund 114 $ 309 Water Enterprise Fund 401 $ 6,215 Wastewater Enterprise Fund 451 $ 6,518 Vehicle Internal Service Fund 501 $ 8,090 Information Technology Internal Service Fund 504 $ 193 Building Maintenance Internal Service Fund 505 $20,316 Total $200,863
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
Staff Empowerment and Operational Excellence
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 – City Resolution
Attachment 2 – EMID Resolution
Attachment 3 – American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 57, Local 829, Memorandum of Understanding, effective September 9, 2024 through September 8, 2027