ACTION:
____________________________
Clerk/Secretary
Department: Human Resources Item No: C19
Prepared by:
Natalie Jacobs, Human Resources Director
Imelda M. Huerta, Assistant City Manager Meeting Date: June 24, 2025 Approved by: John Conley, City Manager Agenda Location: Consent Calendar S
UBJECT: TENTATIVE AGREEEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF VISTA AND THE VISTA
FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt City Council Resolution No. 2025- , approving the Tentative Agreement between the City of Vista and the Vista Firefighters Association, subject to Vista Firefighters Association’s approval, and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith.
CORRELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS: Routine operational item not directly corresponding to a specific City Council goal.
PRIOR ACTION: On February 11, 2025, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2025-20, approving a Letter of Agreement between the City of Vista and the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0).
O
n June 11 2024, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2024- 87, approving a Letter of Agreement with the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0).
O
n January 9, 2024, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2024- 02, approving a Letter of Agreement with the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith ( Vote:
5-0). For a comprehensive list of prior City Council actions, please see Exhibit 2.
P
lease refer to Exhibit 2 for a comprehensive list of prior City Council actions.
S
TATEMENT ON THE SUBJECT: Representatives of the City have met and conferred with the bargaining team of the Vista Firefighters Association (VFFA) and the City issued its Last, Best, and Final Offer (LBFO) on June 3, 2025, regarding a successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Subsequently, on June 18, 2025, the VFFA representatives discussed and informed staff of a tentative approval of the LBFO. As a result of the meet and confer process, representatives of VFFA and are awaiting ratification by their membership. If the VFFA membership ratifies the tentative agreement, the City Council desires to approve a new Memorandum of Understanding amending the terms of the current Memorandum of Understanding with the terms in the tentative agreement.
The c
urrent MOU expires June 30, 2025, and the new MOU, if approved, takes effect July 1, 2025.
The f
our-year agreement includes the following major changes to the MOU (Exhibit 1A).
AGENDA
REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
SUCCESSOR AGENCY
BUENA SANITATION DISTRICT
JOINT POWERS FINANCING AUTHORITY
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C19
MEETING DATE: June 24, 2025 PAGE 2
SUBJECT: TENTATIVE AGREEEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF VISTA AND THE VISTA
FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION
1. T
erm:
Four years [July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2029]
2. U
nit Represented:
Modify Article 2.0 of the MOU to add the classifications of Emergency Medical Technician and Fire Recruit to the list of represented classifications.
3. S
alary:
Effective the first date in July 2025 wherein the majority of the days in the pay period fall in July rather than June, all VFFA represented classification will receive a 4.0% across-the-board salary increase.
E
ffective the first date in July 2026 wherein the majority of the days in the pay period fall in July rather than June, all VFFA represented classification will receive a 3.5% across-the-board salary increase.
E
ffective the first date in July 2027 wherein the majority of the days in the pay period fall in July rather than June, all VFFA represented classification will receive a 3.0% across-the-board salary increase.
E
ffective the first date in July 2028 wherein the majority of the days in the pay period fall in July rather than June, all VFFA represented classification will receive a 3.0% across-the-board salary increase.
4. Labor
Representatives:
Section 12.1 - The City shall provide an aggregate total of 360 hours of paid leave per year for use by
the Labor Representatives, to attend Association sponsored conferences, seminars or workshops. The Association agrees to give the City notice of intent to use the leave within thirty (30) days prior to commencement of the leave.
12. 2 - It is agreed that there shall be a limit of two Labor Representatives released per shift for union bus
iness if mandate backfill is required. If more than two employees request time off for union bus
iness, the remaining shifts must be filled voluntarily, not through mandate.
12. 3 - Further, provide that representatives shall be exempt from force hire while using union release t
ime, including the consecutive days where the employee is regularly scheduled to be off work before and after such release outside of San Diego County, or at international or state conventions.
5. D
iscipline Procedures:
Add to Article 16.4.2 of the MOU a level of appeal to the City Manager to all disciplinary actions above a two-shift suspension. Modify to include the decision of the administrative hearing officer shall be final and binding upon the parties, subject to judicial review under CCP §1094.5.
6. 40
-hour Administrative Assignments:
Modify Article 18 of the MOU to provide the following:
a. Modify Article 18.1 to provide that sworn unit employees assigned to 40-hours administrative as
signments shall be paid a premium of fifteen percent (15%) (existing per side letter agreement).
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MEETING DATE: June 24, 2025 PAGE 3
SUBJECT: TENTATIVE AGREEEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF VISTA AND THE VISTA
FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION
b. Modify Article 18.4 to provide that employees in an administrative assignment shall be permitted to perform physical training during each workday, rather than every second w
orkday.
c. 18.
8 Return to Suppression
The duration of an appointment or assignment to administrative duties will be for a minimum of (2) two years but may be shortened upon agreement of the member and the Fire Chief.
U
pon completion of the administrative assignment the employee may return to a suppression as
signment provided there is an employee of the same rank who has completed probation and has
less rank-seniority than the outgoing employee.
7. S
trike Teams: Modify the MOU to provide as follows:
a. If an employee returns from a strike team deployment on their regularly scheduled w
orkday the employee shall be provided up to 10 hours of rest with pay. b. E
mployee deployed on a strike team shall be housed in a hotel room. If none is provided by the host agency, the employees shall be reimbursed at the federal GSA the per diem rates.
8. O
vertime for Non-Sworn: Modify Article 20.5 of the MOU to provide that CTO may be accrued to a m
aximum of 80 hours, at any one time.
9. Fam
ily Sick:
Modify Article 23.2 of the MOU to provide that employees may use up to 3 shifts (72 hours for non- sworn) per fiscal year for family illness or injury, provided however, an employee can utilize addi
tional accrued sick leave for family illness or injury so long as the employee maintains a bank of 240 or more hours of sick leave.
10. M
edical Insurance:
City and VFFA to agree to examine CalPERS medical for FFA members.
11. V
acations:
Modify Article 24.1 of the MOU to provide that vacation accrued as follows:
SWORN
Years Accrual/year
Upon hire through 5th year 7 shifts
Beginning of 6th year through 10th year 9 shifts
Beginning of 11th year through 15th year 10 shifts
Beginning of 16th year through 20th year 11 shifts
Beginning of 21st year 12 shifts
NON-SWORN
Years Accrual/year
Upon hire through 5th year 90 hours
Beginning of 6th year through 10th year 140 hours
Beginning of 11th year through 15th year 160 hours
Beginning of 16th year through 20th year 180 hours
Beginning of 21st year 200 hours
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MEETING DATE: June 24, 2025 PAGE 4
SUBJECT: TENTATIVE AGREEEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF VISTA AND THE VISTA
FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION
16. Li
fe Insurance: Modify Article 26.4.1 of the MOU to provide that the City provided life insurance shall be i
ncreased to $100,000.
17. U
niforms: Modify Article 27.2 of the MOU to provide that uniform allowance shall be increased from $750 to $875 per year.
18. P
aramedic Preceptor: Modify Article 29.4 of the MOU to provide that paramedic preceptor pay shall be i
ncreased from $200 to $500 per student.
19. T
uition Reimbursement: Modify Article 41 of the MOU to provide that tuition reimbursement shall be i
ncreased to $3000 per year.
20. Fi
re Inspectors “Safety” Designation:
Modify the MOU to provide that the City shall take all action necessary to amend its contract with C
alPERS to prospectively designate employees in the classification of Fire Inspector and Assistant Fire Marshal as “safety” employees, within the meaning of the public employees retirement law, pursuant to C
alifornia Government Code, Section 20434.
I
f the VFFA membership approves the tentative agreement, the City Manager is directed and authorized to take all necessary and appropriate action with respect to implementing the terms and conditions of the tentative agreement into a new Memorandum of Understanding by and between the City and VFFA and before June 30, 2025 so that the terms of the new Memorandum of Understanding will take effect on July 1, 2025.
F
ISCAL IMPACT: The total cost of implementing these MOU revisions is estimated at $564,529.31 for FY2025/26. Sufficient funding is available in the FY 2025/26 Operating Budget for these operational changes.
E
XHIBITS:
1. City Council Resolution No. 2025- , approving the Tentative Agreement between the City of Vista and t
he Vista Firefighters Association, subject to Vista Firefighters Association’s approval, and repealing the pr
ovisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith.
a. Tentative Agreement
2. Prior City Council actions
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RESOLUTION NO. 2025-
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CHARTERED CITY OF
VISTA, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING THE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE CITY OF VISTA AND THE VISTA FIREFIGHTERS
ASSOCIATION, SUBJECT TO VISTA FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION’S
APPROVAL, AND REPEALING THE PROVISIONS OF ANY RESOLUTIONS
IN CONFLICT HEREWITH
The City Council of the City of Vista does resolve as follows:
1. Findings. The City Council hereby finds and declares the following:
A. Authorized representatives of the City of Vista have met and conferred with representatives of the Vista Firefighters Association (VFFA), a recognized employee organization representing certain employees of the City of Vista.
B. As a result of the meet and confer process, a tentative agreement has been reached with the representatives of VFFA and is awaiting ratification by the membership of the VFFA. If the VFFA membership ratifies the tentative agreement, the City Council desires to approve a new Memorandum of Understanding amending the terms of the current Memorandum of Understanding with the terms in the tentative agreement.
2. Action.
A. The VFFA’s current Memorandum of Understanding with the changes listed in the tentative agreement by and between the City of Vista representatives and the representatives of the Vista Firefighters Association for the period commencing July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2029, a copy which is attached as Exhibit “A”, is approved subject to the VFFA membership approving said tentative agreement.
B. If the VFFA membership approves the tentative agreement, the City Manager is directed and authorized to take all necessary and appropriate action with respect to implementing the terms and conditions of the tentative agreement into a new Memorandum of Understanding by and between the City and VFFA and before June 30, 2025 so that the terms of the new Memorandum of Understanding will take effect on July 1, 2025.
C. For the term of the new Memorandum of Understanding, the City Council commits to performing an annual salary review to determine if wages of VFFA members are keeping pace with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
D. The provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith are repealed and shall be of no further force or effect after July 1, 2025.
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EXHIBIT 1
RESOLUTION NO. 2025-
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CHARTERED CITY OF VISTA
PAGE 2
3. Adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED at a meeting of the City Council of the City of Vista held on June 24, 2025, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
WALTER CHUNG, CITY ATTORNEY
By:
JOHN FRANKLIN, MAYOR
ATTEST:
KATHY VALDEZ, CITY CLERK
By:
A
ttachment: The City of Vista and Vista Firefighters’ Association Tentative Agreement effective July 1, 2025
APPROVED
Walter C. Chung
20250619135011
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VFFA PRIOR CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS
EXHIBIT 2
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n February 11, 2025, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2025-20, approving a Letter of Agreement between the City of Vista and the Vista Firefighters’ Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0).
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n June 11 2024, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2024- 87, approving a Letter of Agreement with the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0).
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n January 9, 2024, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2024-02, approving a Letter of Agreement with the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0).
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n August 8. 2023, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2023- 143, approving a Letter of Agreement with the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0).
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n May 23, 2023, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2023- 84, approving a Letter of Agreement with the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0).
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n April 25, 2023, discussed and approved the addition of two Basic Life Support BLS) ambulances in the city and provided direction to staff regarding the costs to maintain the BLS emergency services delivery model (Vote: 4-0, O’Donnell absent).
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n August 23, 2022, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2022-123, approving a Letter of Agreement with the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0).
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n August 10, 2021, adopted City Council Resolution No. 2021-131, approving a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Vista and the Vista Firefighters Association and repealing the provisions of any resolutions in conflict herewith (Vote: 5-0). 06/24/2025
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EXHIBIT 2