Five of six city employee groups have agreed to accept salary
reductions amounting to 4.62 percent either through furloughs or
straight pay cuts, while the police officers association has yet to
sign off on a similar proposal.
HOLLISTER
Five of six city employee groups have agreed to accept salary reductions amounting to 4.62 percent either through furloughs or straight pay cuts, while the police officers association has yet to sign off on a similar proposal.
City leaders have been negotiating with the employee groups for several months in light of declining revenue projections, a structured deficit and a dwindling general fund reserve that continues on a path toward empty.
City Council members were scheduled to consider making the pay reductions formal at their 6 p.m. meeting Monday at Hollister City Hall. The decisions were put off for a week, however, because officials Monday still were ironing out details in the agreement for the general employees unit overseen by a branch of the Service Employees International Union.
Ultimately, it would save the city about $500,000 this year and $800,000 next year, while the reductions would remain in effect through 2010-11.
Four of five employee groups agreeing to terms negotiated for furlough time instead of pay reductions. Those employees would end up taking off an additional 12 days a year – one per month – without pay.
The Hollister Fire Department’s union members elected to accept 4.62 percent pay cuts, though a provision in the contract states they would re-enter contract talks if any other employee group negotiates for reductions that are lower than that figure.
It’s unclear whether that stipulation might come into play at this point. Although the other groups’ cuts are in line with firefighters’ reduction, the police officers association doesn’t have an agreement in place. All the while, the other employee groups are scheduled to take the pay cuts starting this week.
Police union President Ray Wood, a sergeant with the local department, declined to comment on the talks for now.
“Hopefully in the next few weeks, I’ll be able to answer that question a little better for you,” Wood said.
City Manager Clint Quilter estimated there might be an agreement “in the next month or month and a half.”
“We are still negotiating with them,” he said.
Regarding the firefighters group, Quilter said the straight pay reduction made the most sense for the operation.
“They looked at a number of ways to do it, and that’s what worked best for everybody and their group,” he said.
Quilter also noted a provision in the agreements that disallows employees to use vacation or sick days on scheduled furlough days.
He said that while the pay cuts are effective through June 2011, officials plan to meet with employee groups at the end of the current fiscal year “in case money falls out of the sky.”
Overall, the city manager expressed thanks to the employees for the sacrifice.
“I appreciate the employees trying to be part of the solution,” he said.
Councilman Ray Friend said he believes the contract negotiations “went exceptionally well.” The reductions, he said, “took a lot of courage for those people.”
“All the representative groups maintained the facts that the city is limited in its funds and there has to be some movement,” he said.
