The State Worker: Last union without labor deal reaches agreement

The State Worker

Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers

March 18, 2011

Last union without labor deal reaches agreement

Gov. Jerry Brown's administration said today it has reached a tentative labor agreement with the International Union of Operating Engineers, the last bargaining unit left without an announced deal.

The announcement followed the Department of Personnel Administration's confirmation Thursday of tentative agreements with unions representing the California Association of Professional Scientists and Professional Engineers in California Government.

The three unions had been working under expired contracts since 2008, the administration said.

"We're grateful to these last three unions for persevering at the bargaining table to help us achieve necessary savings," DPA Director Ron Yank said in a prepared statement. "It's also a huge relief -- for employees and the administration -- to face the fiscal challenges ahead with some degree of certainty in working conditions and compensation, which have been anything but certain over the past few years."

The International Union of Operating Engineers represents about 1,000 building maintenance engineers.

According to the administration, employees' monthly pension contributions will increase from 5 percent to 10 percent for miscellaneous employees and from 6 percent to 11 percent for safety employees. Employees will take one day of unpaid leave each month for a year but will not be subject to additional furloughs, the administration said.

If ratified, the contract will run from April 1 to July 1, 2013.

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