Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 Update: Fresno Strike Ends as City Reaches a Deal With White Collar Union

Original Story

The city’s architects, engineers, and supervisors began a planned strike Tuesday morning. More than 100 bus drivers are joining them who say their co-workers aren’t getting a fair shake.

City of Fresno Professional Employees Association members began marching outside City Hall at 4 a.m. and at the city’s municipal service center. Jesse Gonzalez, president of the union said the strike began with nearly 50 people, growing to nearly 100 people to kick off the action expected to last until Wednesday.

“There’s a really good turnout. Besides my members, the (Amalgamated Transit Union) — which is the bus driver’s union — has joined us in support and unity. We also had some of their members out there as well,” said Gonzalez.

Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez came to the picket line to support workers. He said negotiations are close.

Chavez said he hoped for a deal before Christmas, but it could be early January.

“There hasn’t been a significantly large gap between what has been requested,” Chavez said. “I think it’s completely workable.”

Related Story: City of Fresno White-Collar Workers Plan to Begin Strike Tuesday

Bus Drivers Join in Strike, Service Reduced

Luis Montoya, president of the ATU said more than 110 drivers joined the professional employees’ picket lines Tuesday. The professional employees are asking for a 3% increase to their salary cap while the city offered 2%. Workers also want better allowances for seniority, including time off.

“The demand that they’re asking for from the city, that 1%, really? You can’t come to an agreement for that 1%?” Montoya said. Workers with the professional employees are still waiting on full compensation from a study agreed on by Fresno City Council in 2018, another reason drivers joined the strike, Montoya said.

Bus service is continuing Tuesday but at reduced levels.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer in a news conference Tuesday afternoon said more than 311 routes have been canceled. The strike affected 26% of trips.

Route 1, which runs along Blackstone Avenue, has only seven buses, where it would normally have 17, Montoya said.

The bus drivers have a contract expiring in June 2025. Montoya expects contract negotiations to begin in February 2025.

Bus drivers may conduct their own compensation study, Montoya said.

‘My Phone Is on 24 Hours a Day’: Dyer

Calling the issue one he wished he didn’t “have to talk about today,” Dyer said in his news conference he would be willing to meet with the association if they would end the impasse they declared in October.

“If the Professional Employees Association wishes to come back to the table and identify some of those conditions that they are most interested in negotiating, we will be more than happy to do that,” Dyer said. “My phone is on 24 hours a day.”

The city has met with the association 14 times since November 2023.

The city’s pay package of more than $2.5 million breaks down to $6,200 per year, he said. The package the association asked for would have come out to more than $4 million.

And while they want to be able to pay workers fairly, Dyer said they had a fiduciary duty to taxpayers and other associations.

Dyer called the city’s offer “lucrative.”

With the class and compensation study, some workers would get 28% raises. The average increase would be nearly 12%.

Gonzalez said the 2018 class and compensation study should have been implemented years ago and should not be included in the city’s calculus. Only seven workers would get the 28% raise, he said.

Dyer countered that the city was willing to implement the pay increases, but 13 other conditions could not be agreed on.

One was a request for one day off a week without a phone call. With many workers being salaried, Dyer said he should be able to expect a supervisor to answer a phone in case of an emergency.

With reduced revenues, though, Dyer said the future of the city budget is uncertain. While he prefers long-term contracts, the city has had to do one-year contracts in some cases.
He said caving into an association’s demands impacts future negotiations.

“We would always like to pay our employees more, but the simple fact is we cannot afford to, especially during times when we’re having fiscal challenges, as is the case this year, and will be the case over the next couple of years,” Dyer said.

Pressure From Supervisors on Bus Drivers to Strike? Union Says Claim is ‘Fear Mongering’

Dyer said roughly 30% of members have gone on strike and the city was able to bring on other workers to fill in as contingency. Some members of the union, such as supervisors at the 911 call center are not allowed to go on strike. Nor are certain members in the crime scene investigation, water, or waste management departments.

Dyer suggested pressure from supervisors might have played a part in getting bus drivers to strike.

“I do know there’s been some encouragement on the part of the supervisors for their subordinates to strike,” Dyer said. “You’ve got to put yourself in the position of a subordinate who works for a supervisor.”

Gonzalez said ATU’s decision to come out was their own to make.

“It was labor supporting labor, it had nothing to do with fear of retaliation, it kind of sounds like fear mongering on their part,” Gonzalez said.

Some Workers Feared Retaliation, Went to Work

Not all of the professional employees’ 300-plus members in good standing — 400 are covered under the contract — went on strike, Gonzalez said.

Some stayed home, and some reported to work, fearing retaliation, he said. Others were concerned about being new hires and how it would affect their standing with the city.

“I understand that, people have to look after their self-interests as well,” Gonzalez said.

The union represents supervisors in every city department. It especially affects the City Attorney’s Office and the city’s permitting and development offices as engineers, architects, paralegals, and accountants join the supervisors.