A group of about 300 city employees representing five labor associations demonstrated in front of City Hall on Tuesday night to make public their wage grievances and collective lack of confidence in city management.
The group, which calls itself Coalition of Redondo Beach Employees (C.O.R.E.), cited “unfair, dishonest, and disrespectful treatment” as the source of its frustration and the impetus for its organized demonstration. Of 297 C.O.R.E. members surveyed, 291 cast a vote of no confidence in City Manager Bill Workman and city management.
“We do not want to be here tonight, but we have no choice,” said Brad Sweatt, president of the Redondo Beach Firefighters Association. “We have been pushed into the corner and we refuse to stay quiet any longer, so we are here to bring public awareness to our concerns.”
C.O.R.E. said a public spectacle was its only recourse, as after an 18-month negotiation period, five labor groups have yet to reach mutually satisfactory contractual agreements with the city.
Workman says the reality is that Redondo Beach is still limping away from the recession.
“At this time, the city is presently engaged in a labor dispute where public employee unions wish for the City Council to pay wages far beyond city’s financial capacity,” he wrote in a press release.
The story of C.O.R.E begins last year, around the time Workman arranged a meeting of representatives from all labor unions to collectively negotiate medical insurance packages for city employees.
Redondo Beach Police Officers’ Association president Scot Martin remembers it as a historic meeting because for years prior, convening inter-union meetings had been “like trying to mix oil and water.”
“But we started talking and sharing information and talking about problems we were having with the city,” Martin said. “We realized none of us had confidence in the city manager and city management team.”
Consequently, representatives from four groups formed C.O.R.E., the organization that on Monday issued a press release publicizing Tuesday’s planned demonstration.
“Morale among city employees is at an historic low,” read the release. “Tenured, highly trained, and valuable employees are seeking to leave Redondo Beach and become employed by other South Bay cities.”
It goes on to point the finger at city management for its handling of employee grievances and negotiations with bargaining groups.
One of the primary sources of frustration for C.O.R.E. is that the city has yet to restore employee wages to pre-recession levels. All employees absorbed a six percent wage reduction in 2010 on the assumption that it would only persist until the city got its books in order.
“When a city we love and has taken care of us asks us to come to the table and help through hard economic times, we say yes,” Martin said. “We did it. Of course there was reluctance but we did it and agreed to take the six percent concession with the belief that the city manager would take those concessions away when we were in recovery. Now we’re in recovery.”
On Tuesday, Nov. 12, the City Council authorized Workman and his staff to deliver the last, best and final compensation offers they had prepared for Redondo Beach bargaining groups after more than a year and a half spent negotiating. The Teamsters, Redondo Beach Professional and Supervisory Association, Redondo Beach City Employees Association, Redondo Beach Police Officers’ Association, Redondo Beach Police Officers’ Association Police Management Unit, and Redondo Beach Firefighters Association were presented with the offers the following morning.
Bargaining groups believed the offer fell drastically short.
“Originally the plan was no more than a year or two of [reduced wages] but there was no hint of the city [restoring pay levels] until last week when they came out with a last minute, sudden, insulting offer to us to get us to shut down, and that’s dishonest treatment, if you ask me,” Sweatt said.
“It comes back to the trust thing,” Martin said. “We’re saying, ‘Hey, we trusted you we trusted you to treat us fairly.’”
Dissatisfied with the outcome of ongoing negotiations, C.O.R.E. staged a vote among labor group members last week. Of 297 votes cast by members, Sweatt said, 98 percent revealed a lack of confidence in city management and specifically in Workman.
“Our members expect and deserve a city manager we can trust,” Martin said. “We just don’t feel like we have that right now.”
Workman said Monday he was expecting “a big personal attack” on Tuesday night, but said simply that his obligation is to the City Council, his duty is to carry out its decisions, and his legal responsibility is to maintain the financial health of the city.
Workman said the city’s financial circumstances are on the mend, and added that the looming redevelopment of the waterfront could generate millions in additional revenue dollars that “might be made available for improved salaries.”
Monday night, a letter was issued in Workman’s defense, signed by such staff members as Police Chief Joe Leonardi, Assistant City Manager Pete Grant, Fire Chief Robert Metzger, and Public Works Director Mike Witzansky.
“As the City of Redondo Beach wraps up another fiscal year in which the City balanced its budget; maintained its credit rating; received top scores for financial practices from the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury; delivered top-notch services to our customers; tended to our infrastructure; and strengthened our community, we feel compelled to communicate our support and appreciation for Bill Workman,” reads the letter.
“As your City Manger, he deserves significant credit for all of those accomplishments. In his nearly nine years leading the City’s day-to-day day operations, Bill’s reputation as a committed, ethical, honest and transparent city manager is well known and is one of the City’s strongest recruiting tools. Those of us who worked for Redondo Beach before Bill was hired can testify to the positive changes he has brought to the organization – professionalizing it, increasing accountability and navigating it through the worst recession in American history.
“The City Council and City Management have faced incredibly difficult choices about the City’s finances and future over the past several years. During this time, Bill has led the organization with integrity, honesty and the highest possible ethical standards.”
Still, C.O.R.E. is claiming that the “overwhelming landslide” of its vote is no coincidence.
“This is not just about wages and benefits,” Sweatt told the City Council. “This is about what we consider a lack of integrity and ethics and plain old just doing the right thing… Please understand this is not a personal attack. This is not just about money. This is about how we are treated and how it affects the citizens of Redondo Beach. Please do not ignore us. The C.O.R.E. is here to stay. The C.O.R.E. wants nothing more than our motto: fairness, honesty, and respect.”
As the council moved on to its next item of discussion, the unionists – who filled the foyer and spilled outside City Hall – chanted their three-word motto.
