by Garth Meyer
Redondo Beach Teamsters Local 911 are set to picket at next Tuesday’s city council meeting. Two months remain on their contract, after which the Public Works and city Parks employees seek a 25+ percent raise to make up for what they maintain – and a study shows – is years of underpayment compared to other area cities.
“This is going to be a big one,” said Danny Garcia, a 15-year Redondo Parks employee and a Local 911 bargaining committee member. “Teamsters in full force with (the two other city labor unions). The negotiations are not going well. It’s a sad state of affairs.”
Garcia said the plan Nov. 7 is to picket outside city hall, next to Pacific Coast Highway, followed by giving public input in the three-minute time slots at the council meeting.
“I want to involve the residents this time around,” he said. “We’re talking about ethics and morals here and what the city stands by.”
The latest Teamsters negotiations were held Oct. 31.
“We’re standing pat on what we want. And it’s pretty darn close to 30 percent,” Garcia said. “About a $5/hour raise.”
The city council has included $1.8 million in the fiscal 2023-24 budget for employee raises, while union representatives have said it would not be enough.
Could this lead to a strike?
“It’s always a possibility,” Garcia said, noting that Teamsters are barred from striking before the three-year contract ends Dec. 31.
Another option, he said, is a Monday-Wednesday-Friday call-in sick protest.
The city workers’ cause was illuminated earlier this year when results of a Redondo Beach-commissioned salary survey of 12 similar, nearby municipalities put Redondo on the bottom half of the list.
Using December 2022 data, Redondo Beach base salaries for front line office staff and Teamsters (streets, sewers and maintenance field workers) came in at 25 percent below market rate, with benefits packages taking it down to 18 percent. For para-professionals (analysts, planners, Public Works engineers and supervisors), the pay is 15 percent below, but 3.5 percent below when adding benefits.
The city has about 220 total union employees, represented by three organizations – not counting police and firefighter/paramedics. ER
