Union Local Votes to Accept Torrance Pact

Members of a Torrance municipal employees union with about 400 blue-collar members voted Wednesday night to accept a proposed contract reached by city and union negotiators.

Members of Local 1117, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees voted 132 to 38 to accept a three-year contract offer that includes a 5.1% annual wage increase, according to Local President Lamont Frederick.

The Torrance City Council was to consider the proposal during a closed session at the end of Tuesday’s council meeting, according to Kathy Keane, the city’s head negotiator. But after the meeting, Mayor Katy Geissert said the council had taken no action on the proposal.

Geissert would not comment further, except to say that the council may consider the proposed contract next week.

Members of the union, which includes bus drivers, custodians, sanitation workers, mechanics, electricians and other blue-collar employees, voted 114-55 last month to reject a previous contract offer and authorize a strike.

Negotiators for both sides had met twice with a state mediator but were unable to break an impasse, Frederick said. The previous two-year union contract expired July 1, he said.

Last week about 50 union members picketed in front of City Hall, and union leaders threatened job actions if no settlement could be reached.

Talks resumed last Thursday when city and union negotiators met with representatives of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. The union went to the federation seeking approval for its strike authorization to ensure that other unions would honor any job action taken by the city employees.

Tentative Accord

Both sides met again on Friday and reached a tentative “handshake” agreement, Frederick said.

Keane said she could not comment on the proposed contract until it receives final approval by the city.

Frederick said that, under the proposal, the union will give up its demand for an extra paid holiday and additional health insurance coverage in exchange for new policies on reimbursement for unused sick leave and automatic withholding of union dues.

Frederick, a civil service officer at the Torrance Police Department, said the union requested a holiday on Martin Luther King’s birthday, but the city offered it only in exchange for another holiday or a vacation day.

He said the union also asked that the city pay for a $25 monthly increase in each worker’s health insurance premium. Instead, the city offered to use 1.1% of the 5.1% annual pay increase to pay for the added coverage, Frederick said.

Union negotiators did not want the larger premium to be deducted from the pay increase, so they dropped the proposal to expand health coverage, he said.

Details of Proposal

The proposed contract would allow workers to get cash compensation for accumulated sick leave when they retire, Frederick said. Workers with more than 300 hours of sick leave can get full cash compensation while they are still employed, he said. Employees receive 72 hours of sick leave annually and would be allowed to accumulate up to 600 hours under the new contract.

Workers who quit can get cash compensation based on a sliding scale of between 50% and 80%, depending on how many hours of sick leave have been accumulated, Frederick said.

The previous contract allowed only workers with more than seven years on the job to receive half the value of accumulated sick time when they leave. Other employees who had worked fewer than seven years were not compensated for unused sick time, he said.

Workers could accumulate up to 800 hours of sick time under the old contract. Those who have already accumulated more than 600 hours of sick time would receive cash compensation in November for the extra hours, Frederick said.

Withholding of Dues

The proposal would result in the automatic withholding of union dues from the paychecks of all bargaining unit employees. Employees who disagree with the union’s policies would be able to request that their dues be donated to charity, he said.

Previously, dues were collected by union leaders.

The pay for union members under the proposal would range from a starting wage of $8.19 per hour for a custodian to a top of $15.95 per hour for an air conditioning and heating technician, Frederick said.

Keane said she did not know the total cost to the city for the new contract.

Although the proposal comes short of meeting all the union’s demands, Frederick said he believes the contract would be a fair settlement.

“You can’t always get what you want,” he said.

During the past three weeks the City Council has approved a variety of contracts with several other unions with an average annual pay increase of 5.1%. On Tuesday the council approved contracts with the city’s police officers and engineers.

NEW CONTRACT FOR TORRANCE CITY WORKERS Here are major changes in the new contract with the city of Torrance for members of Local 117, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Sick leave reimbursement Old contract: Workers with more than seven years on job received half the value of accumulated sick time when they left. Such workers could accumulate up to 800 hours of sick time. New contract: Workers can get cash compensation for accumulated sick leave when they retire. Employees with more than 300 hours of sick leave can be compensated while they are still employed. Workers who quit can be compensated on a sliding scale, and all employees can accumulate up to 600 hours of sick leave. Withholding of union dues Old contract: Dues were collected by union leaders. New contract: Dues will be withheld from paychecks of all bargaining unit employees. Employees who object to union policies can have dues donated to charity. SOURCE: Lamont Frederick, president, Local 1117