YLEA Negotiations Update: March 13, 2024

Dear OCEA member,

We want to update you on the 2024 negotiations process. As you know, we conducted a membership meeting Feb. 13, 2024, to discuss that process and the negotiations survey. The deadline for survey responses closed the same day and your negotiations team has met three times since then to review survey results and continue to plan for negotiations.

During these meetings, we read through each individual survey response and researched and discussed possible proposals for all items suggested. We also discussed items members brought to stewards informally.

Part of our research has also included:

• Reviewing current MOU language;
• Reviewing the language of other MOUs both within and outside the city;
• Considering the number of members a suggested proposal might impact and the extent of the impact;
• Assessing the equity of current and future benefits across the bargaining unit; and
• Determining the potential cost of a suggested proposal to the City.

If additional information is needed in connection with potential proposals, we submit a Request for Information (RFI) to the City. Part of the process also includes the development of justifications for various proposal items and an evaluation of our strongest arguments to support those items.

You have elected the members of the negotiations team to represent you and the entire bargaining unit in the negotiations process and this is a serious responsibility. Making sure bargaining unit members have the opportunity for input helps the negotiations team develop an initial proposal that puts us in the strongest possible position to achieve the very best possible outcome.

Once fully developed, our initial proposal WILL include the negotiations priorities reflected in member responses to the negotiations survey and the membership meeting. Those priorities absolutely include overdue competitive general wage increases to offset inflation and provide for future economic security, the outcome of the current classification and compensation study, preserving healthcare benefits, increasing retirement security, addressing the desire for work/life balance through additional time off, increasing bereavement leave, and fighting for more workers rights for employees. You can see on the chart below the issues ranked by members on the negotiations survey. As we go through this process, your team will always have in mind wages, as they were ranked as the most important item in the survey.

Your team believes commencing negotiations at the same time as other City bargaining units puts us in the best initial position. Our first meeting with the City is scheduled for March 18, 2024. At this meeting, we will most likely discuss ground rules and possibly present an initial proposal.

The City Council is scheduled to meet on March 19, 2024. We have a second negotiations meeting scheduled for March 20, 2024. By the end of the March 20 session, we hope to know much more about the priorities of the City Council and get some indication of where the process may be headed. We will keep everyone updated during the process and will call on members if needed.

As always, if you have questions, please contact any of your negotiations team members. Please also continue to check your emails as we embark on the fight for the contract you and your families deserve, the very best contract achievable.

In Solidarity,

Your OCEA Negotiations Team
Rob, Kate, Monse, Michelle, Kerensa, Jessica, and Alisha

Publication Date: March 13, 2024