Dear Unit 12, I.U.O.E. Member,
After twenty months, 43 bargaining sessions (including three mediation sessions) the Union has reached a new tentative agreement with the State of California. This round of negotiations has been extremely difficult due to the frugality of this governor and the reluctance of the Department of Finance to allocate sufficient funds to address our needs.
While this tentative agreement does not meet all of our expectations, it does provide for five years of economic stability with modest raises each year while addressing the unfunded liability for retiree health benefits.
Many economists are predicting a slowing of the economy in fiscal year 2018-2019 and therefore this five year agreement will protect against any attempts of future administrations to reduce your pay or benefits thus providing each of you four years of predictable increases in your income.
When you add these four years of pay increases in with the last two years of pay increases you have already received, you have six years of steady improvements in your wages. It has been decades since State employees have received six consecutive years of pay increases of this magnitude.
Your bargaining team fought hard for other improvements to your contract, but the State wouldn’t budge. We had many expert witnesses (state employees like yourself) who testified at the bargaining table as to the recruitment and retention problems they have in their worksites and in their classifications, but the State, for the most part, just didn’t care unfortunately.
A “Yes” vote on the enclosed ballot means that you are in favor of the tentative agreement and a “No” vote means you are opposed to the tentative agreement and are authorizing a strike. If a majority of the Union members vote “No” on the tentative agreement not only will you not receive a pay increase effective January 1, 2017, but you will also pay out-of-pocket the entire increase of your health benefit premiums for the upcoming year.
Your Union and the bargaining team is recommending a “Yes” vote on the enclosed tentative agreement.
In Solidarity,
Your Unit 12 Bargaining Team
Mike Howard, Buzz Harlow, Dan Christensen, Troy Laabs, Richard Johnson, Todd Allen,
Robert Estrada, and Alternate Greg West