THOUSAND OAKS : City Delays Pact for Managerial Workers

The Thousand Oaks City Council on Tuesday postponed consideration of a three-year contract for the city’s 116 managerial employees out of concern that the negotiated agreement would deny longevity pay to 31 senior workers.

The contract, drafted after four months of negotiations, called for the employees to receive deferred compensation instead of longevity pay. They would be allowed to set aside up to $70 in pretax income each month during the first year of the contract, and they would receive it in a lump sum upon retirement.

In the second year of the contract, they would be able to set aside $125 a month and in the third year $180 a month.

But Michael Sangster, deputy director of the Planning Department, presented a petition of protest signed by 19 senior managers. They argued that longevity pay, which rewards longtime employees who have reached the top of the pay scale, should be retained.

The council agreed to reconsider the issue in closed session.

Under the proposed contract, the managers would be eligible for annual merit raises of up to 6%, said Roy Myers, vice president of the Thousand Oaks Management Assn., the labor union representing most top-level staff. The average raise would be set at 4%.

“We’re on a pay-for-performance schedule, not a cost-of-living one, so the outstanding employees don’t end up getting the same raises as a total goof-off,” Myers said.

Other changes in the contract would allow managers to consolidate vacation, sick and administrative leave. Those employees working 10-hour shifts who have been with the city for five years would receive 18 days of annual leave, and those who have been working for 15 years would get about 24 days a year.