Clik here to view.
Hundreds of Berkeley city workers could soon take to the picket lines after members of Service Employees International Union Local 1021 voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
Union leaders say 93 percent of the 550 members in the union’s Community Services Unit and Part-time Recreation Leaders Association voted to allow its leadership to call a strike if current contract talks with the city remain bogged down.
The workers’ contract expired in June and the two sides have been meeting since February, according to the union, but it seems as if an impasse — and strike — could be close at hand.
“We’ve seen very little movement from the city in terms of our cost-of-living adjustment specifically, which is a huge part of our ask,” said Jamie Cooney, an SEIU bargaining team member and hazardous materials inspector for the city.
“What we’re really asking for in spirit is to catch up with the cost of living and keep up with the cost of living moving forward,” Cooney said.
Not keeping pace
The union says that since 2012, its members’ pay has fallen behind the Consumer Price Index, a key measure of inflation, by 26 percent and is now 39 percent behind the Bay Area’s median income.
This has led to serious recruitment and staff retention problems, according to union leaders.
“We’re hopeful that the city will take the threat of a strike seriously and treat our proposals seriously for fair pay,” Cooney said. “They don’t think our COLA request is a serious proposal but catching up and keeping up with the cost of living is a very serious issue for our members.”
The union says it has come down from its initial proposal and is now asking for a 25 percent pay increase spread out over the length of a new contract, along with increases linked to the area median income.
“They don’t think our COLA request is a serious proposal but catching up and keeping up with the cost of living is a very serious issue for our members.”
Jamie Cooney, SEIU bargaining team member and Berkeley city employee
It’s also asking that retirement and dental benefit increases be linked to inflation.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Monday morning and a strike could happen any time after that.
The union has been slowly ramping up pressure tactics since August, when workers at Berkeley Day camp staged a two-day strike, and Oct. 14, when workers picketed in front of City Hall.
Also, union leadership believes the city hasn’t been bargaining in good faith and has filed an unfair labor practices complaint with state regulators.
What’s good for city should be ‘good enough for us’
The union says it’s particularly galling that the city won’t agree to cost of living increases because in 2020, Berkeley voters approved Measure JJ, which links the mayor’s and city council members’ wages to the AMI.
Since then, they’ve seen some significant increases, including in 2022 when their salaries went up by 13.7 percent, according to the union.
“Our union, SEIU, came out in favor and in support of that initiative for the mayor and city council members,” Cooney said. “Today, in 2024, we support that for our members. We think that if it’s good enough for the mayor and the city council then it’s good enough for us.”
In addition to SEIU Local 1021, the city has been in contract talks with AFSCME PEU Local 1, which represents another 200 or so city workers who have also been without a contract since June.
Neither Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín nor a city spokesperson immediately responded to requests for comment.
The post Berkeley city workers authorize strike amid floundering quest for cost-of-living increase appeared first on Local News Matters.