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In SEIU 721 nearly half of the members cast votes, approving the agreement by an average of 78.5%. The biggest unit, MOU 4, had 92% yes votes. The turnout reflected the seriousness of the issue and the engagement of the members.
More numbers from the vote:
| MOU |
Yes Votes |
No Votes |
Total Votes |
% Yes |
% Turnout |
| 04 | 1,459 | 124 |
1,583 | 92% | 47% |
| 14 | 376 | 163 |
539 |
69.8% |
56% |
| 15 | 273 |
58 |
331 |
82.5% |
36% |
| 18 |
379 |
191 |
570 |
66.5% |
39% |
| 29 |
201 |
199 |
400 |
50.25% |
79% |
| Totals |
2,688 |
735 |
3,423 |
78.5% |
47% |
It was not an easy decision, but after meeting and debating for weeks, a majority of members cast their votes in solidarity with their co-workers. Now long-time workers can retire with dignity, protecting those beginning their careers with the City who were especially vulnerable to layoffs.
This agreement puts the City and Coalition members in the best position possible going forward in this tough economy by giving the City long-term, structural savings of $267 million next year and over $2 billion in the next five years; by securing the pension system; and by keeping the Coalition engaged in monitoring the City’s budget and finances.
What’s Next
-
The City Council is expected to take its second vote on the ERIP and Tentative Agreement on Friday, October 30.
This second vote is a formality necessary whenever changes are made to the pension. City workers are encouraged to fill the seats in Council chambers at 10am for this vote. -
Sign up for ERIP now!
It’s anticipated that the 45 day window period for ERIP will open shortly after the Council’s 2nd vote. Don’t wait to retire!
- Submit your retirement request to LACERS now.
- On Monday, November 2 at 8am, go to the CAO’s office at City Hall East room 1200 to sign-up. You’ll also be able to sign-up online with the CAO’s office starting Monday.
All provisions of the Tentative Agreement will take effect immediately.
That includes the 3.5 hours off each pay period. Each department will implement its own plans for this. If members have concerns or ideas around the implementation, they should alert their Stewards and Worksite Organizers, because we plan to be involved in this process.
If you have any other questions about implementation of the agreements, please contact the Member Resource Center at (877) 721-4YOU [4968], or your Steward or Worksite Organizer.
Agreement language and other information is still available here.
Go the ERIP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How about the same transparency we ask of the City…what were the actual votes, for and against, by bargaining unit?
Yes, what are the votes by bargaining units! ALOT OF PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW.
For the people that do not qualify for the ERIP…..
First off…You will still have to take ONE furlough day a month. 3.5 hours a pay period times 17 pay periods. The furlough days should only be enforced until the end of this fiscal year. There are 7 months left in this fiscal year. Starting from November 1st and ending on June 30th. 3.5 hours times 17 pay periods equals 59.5 hours, divided by 7 months is 8.5 hours a month.
If your Bi-Weekly salary is $3000.00 that means you will be taking more than a $300.00 a month cut in pay.
(The union person that I asked said the furloughs will last until the end of this fiscal year. However, the Mayor has already said going into the next fiscal year the financial situation is going to be worse than it is now. I asked if the furlough days will definitely stop in July, I did not get a reply. If the furlough days do not end as expected, 3.5 hours a pay period times 26 pay periods equals 12 days a year, 1 day a month).
Plus you will have to pay 1% more into the retirement system. $3000/a pay period is $78,000/year X 0.01 equals $780/year or a $65/month cut in pay for the retirement increase.
So far that equals over $365/month not including the money that has to be paid back for all of the people that retire.
The union is projecting $271 million to be paid back.
($271 million is a projected dollar amount given by the union. It is calculated by the union based on if 2,229 eligible people take the retirement. However, earlier this year the union gave an estimate of over 7000 people that will qualify for the retirement. If 7000 eligible people retire, the number will go up substantially. In the Employee Relations Bulletin: Dated October 2, 2009; Subject: ERIP – FAQ’s, on Line 18, there was a question asked about how many people will be able to retire under the ERIP? The answer was there will be a cap of 2,400 people who will be able to take advantage of this program. If more than 2,400 people apply for the program the Mayor and City Council can approve an increase to the 2,400 limit. The actual dollar amount for the ERIP will be unknown until all of the applications are received. The dollar amount per person can be calculated from the numbers provided by the union. $271,000,000 divided by 2,229 people equals $121,579 per person).
This is to stay with the $271 million number given in the Letter of Agreement.
If there are 30,000 people (city workers that do not take the incentive) that have to pay it back, $271 million divided by 30,000 people equals $9,033.00/each for every employee left to pay back over 15 years. $9,033 divided by 15yrs, divided by 12months comes to an extra $50/month cut in pay.
What this means is, if you earn $3000.00/pay period you will be forced to take a $415.00 cut in pay a month, because of the ERIP.
(This number could increase or decrease based on how many people retire under the ERIP. If 7000 eligible people retire with the approval of the Mayor and City Council, it will cost each remaining employee $28,368 each over 15 years, which equals $157.60/month. That means if you earn $3000/bi-weekly. Your cut in pay will be $522.60 a month).
This doesn’t seem like a good deal to me. I’m one of the people that will be here paying this off over the next 15 years while everyone who takes this deal gets to leave with a cash buyout in their pocket.
Where is the incentive for me or you?…..Has anyone thought of that?
There may be a chance to stop it. It still has to be accepted by the City Council.
Just like i’ve been saying for months and no one listens. Let them in the door for furlough time and they will ask for more and more. All of you who voted yes, pay attention to your paychecks baby, they will keep getting smaller,,,,,,FOR THE NEXT 15 YEARS!
Do the Math is losing sight of the bigger picture…I just want to remind him/her and others that the City’s financial situation is not going away if ERIP is not approved. In other words, the City will still need to come up with savings equivalent to those that would have been realized through ERIP. If it is not approved, it will have to come from employees in the form of additional furloughs and layoffs. Also, keep in mind that people retiring under ERIP will be paying back 1% of their pension for the rest of their lives and that will reduce the liability to the remaining employees. Also, keep in mind that some employees have been contributing 9% to their retirement for years (Fire and Police)…
It is true that there is still a lot of uncertainty about the City’s financial situation next fiscal year. There is no doubt that this is a bad situation for everyone and next year we may be faced with more losses, but it can only be helped by getting 2400 people off the City’s payroll. There are signs that the economy in general is beginning to show signs of recovery…..when the Coalition’s new contract does take effect, these same people will be the beneficiaries of some very generous salary increases and I don’t think people should lose sight of that!
How many future”generous” salary increases will it take just to get back to where we are now?
I understand that the Unions did their best in a very short time period. Everyone had to make quick decisions with long term effects. Maybe there should have been a Group 6 included in the plan for the people who didn’t qualify for any of the other groups. Give every employee time to keep in the bank. 5 years to use when they plan to retire. Or even 6 months of accumulated time for every year it takes to pay it off. Something tangible for all of us who have to make the payments?
An incentive for everyone involved, which would stimulate consistent, future retirements over the 15 year time period. This may have been equally as beneficial for the City in solving the financial problems. As well as all of the remaining employees who will be making the payment sacrifices?
Once again, I have to state the obvious. Everyone talks as if in the next 7-8 months the city and MR. Photo -Op are going to magically find (again) 400-500 Million $ . On top of having to pay the first installment of deferred money! Are you kidding me?? There are many people with 33 + years who will be owed a lot of money! Exactly where do you think that is going to come from? Do you think the UNION will stand up and say enough? It’s going to come from US! We opened the door to furloughs, and they will drive a train through it! 3.5 per pay period now. Next june they will be taking more. Do you realize that the re- opener clause is already there! Because even with all the savings we are still over 100 million in the red! Bingo! re-open the contract we need more $$$$$$$
As always city workers take it up the ass. As people sign up for erip, DWP signs a new contract with raises and we fall futher and futher behind. The mayor got exactly what he wanted and the union help him get it. The vote was a railroad no one really knows what the real vote was. We were sold out for a few employee’s just out of the world. Senior employees taking up the ass for people that just started. We should have recieved our raises and layed off. now we will never see them, and with this sell out ass union we will never see them. The door is open, now it is time to leave this shitty ass union. The gap is so wide between dwp and the city it can’t and will never be closed. F the coalition and erip. We got to pay over 15 years for this shit, 5 years given is already a golden hand shake now throw in 15k thats a platium hand shake. Money could have been saved without the 15k gift. I hope I can get a platium hand shake when I go in 6 years.
“uptherear”, you hit the nail right on the head. Antonio has finally shown his true colors. There is a memo dated 10/27/09, from Antonio to all Department Heads. I call it “Antonio’s Manifesto”. I wish I could post it here. If you want to read it, go to http://www.lacityworkers.com. It is posted in LA City Workers Forums, under “Next Year’s Lay-offs and Furloughs”. It is nothing less than a Declaration of War on all City employees. And what a simple and brilliant strategy: decimate the ranks of City employees using the ERIP, then contract out the work! And he used our very own COCU’s to push the ERIP–all the while knowing those positions would never be filled again by City workers.
What idiots we were to put our trust in this bum-fu**ed Coalition. The only ones to benefit are those taking the ERIP. I admit I am taking it. I got on the ERIP Lifeboat List the first day it opened. Now I see it for what it is–a boatload of rats, scrambling to get off a sinking ship.
For those of you remaining in City service, here’s what you have to look forward to:
From now on, for every bargaining unit in the City (except DWP of course), every contract negotiation is going to go the same way–work cheaper than a private contractor, or lose the work.
What’s your choice? Strike? This union doesn’t know the meaning of the word. So Coalition members, get ready to take it (uptherear) like a man (even if you’re a woman).
As long as Bob Schoonover and Charlie Mims get to reap the ERIP benefits, that’s all that matters to the Sellout Coalition…all the while the 30K employees get it up the rear and are told to smile and be grateful…BANDIDOS VENDIDOS!
Now that SEIU is our Official Bargaining Unit, I wonder if they will continue the processing of our grievances for furlough days for MOU 8?? If not, then maybe we all can file a class action lawsuit against SEIU.
Also, everyone should look into the concept of decertification of SEIU and a possible return to EAA, at least we would not have official furloughs written into the contract.
It was obvious from the start that making concessions was a tactical blunder, and unfair to Union members, in light of the previous contract when we made significant sacrifices for the City, even while that same City reaped record levels of revenue.
Frankly, I don’t need to pay Union dues in order to be screwed, nor do I need to provide free services to a Union that will not serve it’s members, nor do I need to show any sort of loyalty to an organization that expects me to work harder for less money.
So, tell me, all you good folk at 721, how do you plan on retaining stewards and members? Pleasant platitudes about our heroic efforts to aid the morons in City Council? Vacuous arguement over how this is the best we can do? Empty threats that denigrate us?
A simple suggestion for all of us: Get sharp, or get out!
Gee, is it just a coincidence? Mims and Schoonover are both in Group 4–the ONLY group that DOESN’T get 1% less on their pensions.
This whole situation would be laughable, if it wasn’t so sordid and disgraceful.
Thanks Coalition!
hi your post is fantastic,by the way thanks for that and see you soon.A+