Seasonal Lifeguards Get Collective Bargaining Status

The Surf City Lifeguards Employee Assn., an organization representing about 80 seasonal lifeguards, will be recognized by the city, officials announced Friday.

“In my opinion they meet all the guidelines to allow us to recognize them,” William H. Osness, city personnel director, said.

Richard J. Silber, a Huntington Beach attorney representing the part-time, seasonal lifeguards, called the city’s recognition a landmark decision.

“To my knowledge, it’s the first employee organization to represent seasonal lifeguards in . . . the state,” he said.

“We’re very excited, thrilled and happy,” Silber added. “It means that for the first time the seasonal lifeguards, under state collective bargaining law and under city labor relations resolutions, have created an employee association to represent them concerning their wages, hours and conditions of employment.

“Therefore, the city must negotiate with the association concerning those matters and no longer unilaterally set wages and conditions of employment.”

Patrick Graham, a driving force behind the formation of the association, also hailed the city’s decision.

“We’re very pleased that the city acted professionally and promptly in this matter,” said Graham, 40, who has 14 years’ experience as a seasonal lifeguard. “Before, we weren’t recognized by the state of California labor laws, and the city of Huntington Beach didn’t recognize us either. We were in limbo.

“I’m just glad we can now push public safety as a bargaining unit,” he said. “We just want to protect the public and our positions.”

Graham said that with the city recognition he now expects additional seasonal lifeguards to join the organization. Currently, 80 of about 100 seasonal lifeguards are members, he said.

Silber said the next step is for the state to hold an election--at the request of the association and city--to determine if the association will be the exclusive employee representative for the seasonal lifeguards.

Once the association is certified as the exclusive bargaining unit, contract negotiations between the city and the association can start.

An election is planned for next week before many of the seasonal lifeguards--who are college students, teachers and other professionals--leave their summer jobs at the city’s beach after the Labor Day weekend. The majority of them work during the summer months and holiday times.

Silber said that the seasonal lifeguards have not been treated like city employees.

“All of that will come to end,” he said, adding that now they can “negotiate their own rights and benefits.”

The seasonal lifeguards currently have no benefits, work for lower pay than their full-time, year-round counterparts and are not paid at a higher rate for overtime.

Silber said the seasonal lifeguards plan to start negotiations with the city “as soon as possible to present to the city a short list of items that the association wants immediately.”

“Our position is, we are prepared to negotiate and resolve them through collective bargaining,” he said.