City of Monterey and largest employee union reach impasse.

On top of negotiating contentious wharf leases, the city of Monterey has been renegotiating contracts this summer with all seven city employee unions.

While the city has reached final agreements with three and a fourth is set to be ratified by the City Council on Sept. 20, the General Employees of Monterey and the city are at a standoff and are now seeking state mediation.

“This is unprecedented,” says Ryan Heron, a labor representative with GEM, the city’s largest employee’s union representing more than 250 workers.

“We have members who have been with the city for more than three decades and they’ve never reached the point of impasse.”

The city employees’ union voted to reject Monterey’s last, best and final offer and delivered a counter-proposal on Aug. 31 which was rejected. The main issues for city employees are salaries, disability and longevity pay, Heron says.

“Our employees are taking home less now than they did 10 years ago,” he says, citing that GEM employees are received a 6-percent increase in take-home pay since 2009 while regionally-adjusted inflation has increased by 15 percent.

Workers represented by GEM, part of United Public Employees of California, include maintenance and public works employees as well as clerks and other administrative support workers.

Most of the contracts for the seven employee unions, all of which expired on June 30, haven’t been updated for more than five years. Instead, contracts have been extended rather than updated.

“What we did in the past are side letters added to the existing contract,” says Monterey City Manager Mike McCarthy. “These will all be redone.”

The Monterey Executive Management Employees’ Association and the Police Lieutenants’ Management Association both reached new two-year agreements that were approved by the City Council in closed session on July 19. A new contract with the Management Employees’ Association was approved by the City Council on Sept. 6.

The city of Monterey offer GEM employees a two-year contract with a 3-percent increase in pay for the first year and, 2 percent the next. The union, on the the other hand, is demanding a 5-percent raise the first year and 4 percent in the second.

“We’re looking to make up for lost time. Our employees took a big hit during the recession,” Heron says.

While the city was expecting some of the contract negotiations to be contentious, McCarthy says, “I was surprised this happened so fast.”

The two parties will likely meet with a state mediator in the next 30 to 45 days, McCarthy says.