After months of bargaining, the City has still never increased their economic offer that would make City workers poorer and put them further behind the region’s increasing cost of living, and they continue to try to roll back the internal hiring processes established in section 14.7 of our contract. Your elected Bargaining Team is continuing to meet with the City and a mediator, and have bargaining sessions scheduled in July and August.

At present, we have signed Tentative Agreements (TAs) with the City’s negotiators on 10 substantive issues, and have signed a few other TAs that fix typos.

1. Safety Training
Safety trainings about blood-borne pathogens will now be available for a number of new classifications, including library workers. Safety trainings about hazardous atmospheres will now be made available to new classifications, including police evidence technicians.

2. Homeless Encampment Premium
Since more classifications are now doing work in Oakland’s homeless encampments, more classifications are now eligible to receive this premium, including heavy equipment operators. We have also closed loopholes the City was using to deny to the premium for work like dumping garbage.

3. Performance Appraisal Deadline
When the City fails to perform an annual performance appraisal, the worker will receive an assessment of “fully effective.”

4. Separation Notifications
All of the City’s separations must now be sent to the union, so that we can track the City’s actions, including releasing Temporary, Part-Time Workers (TPTs).

5. Discipline
The City will now have to work collaboratively to schedule Skelly hearings (meetings that must be provided before disciplinary acts like termination, demotion, suspension, or reduction of pay, including transfer with a reduction of pay). Previously, the City was able to pick and impose a date.

6. Commuter Program
The City will now be paying the administrative fees for the commuter program.

7. Ergonomic Improvements
City workers can now request ergonomic improvements directly from Risk Management, and will no longer have to go through their supervisors.

8. Initial Salary
To increase recruitment and address the City’s growing vacancy rate, the City will now be able to hire workers at higher rates of pay than Step One.

9. Traumatic Leave
Your union can now request traumatic leave for a member who has been the victim of a traumatic incident.

10. Tool Allowance
The tool allowance has been increased.