A three-hour meeting Tuesday evening between representatives of a striking union and the city of Fresno officials — including Mayor Jerry Dyer — resulted in terms amenable to both sides, ending the job action a day early.

Jesse Gonzalez, president of the City of Fresno Professional Employees Association, said the group had narrowed down the conditions of a contract to replace the one that expired in January 2023.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed so that the contract could be brought before union members first. Dyer said he expects the contract to go before Fresno City Council in January 2025. The contract covers more than 400 workers in nearly every department.

As the contract is retroactive, the deal ends in June 2025, and negotiations will begin on a new contract in March 2025.

“I feel confident that what we came up with yesterday, last night, will meet their needs for the time being so that we would be able to move forward,” Gonzalez said.

The union had started its planned two-day strike on Tuesday morning.

Related Story: 2-Day Strike Begins at City of Fresno. More Than 300 Bus Routes Canceled.

Group Narrowed Down 13 Conditions to Five

At a Tuesday news conference, Dyer said he would make himself available to the union if they wanted to negotiate.

“We don’t necessarily want to make a habit of having to be at the bargaining table as a leadership team, because we have very competent, capable people to do that for us in the city,” Dyer said. “But I do believe there are times when it is warranted.”

Of the 13 conditions workers asked for, they agreed on the five most important, Dyer said, many not related to money.

Bus System Impacted

Bus drivers also joined the city’s white-collar workers in a sympathy strike Tuesday, with 26% of routes canceled, according to Fresno City Manager Georgeanne White. In anticipation of the strike, the city found workers to fill in service gaps.

The Fresno Area Express regularly has call-outs from employees, so they have a system in place to address route shortages.

“So, all we had to do was turn that from a medium to a high to be able to be able to make sure we had as many of those routes covered,” White said. “I believe at the end of the day we did have well over half of the routes covered and half of the buses in operation.”

Contract negotiations for the city’s bus drivers will begin in February, according to Luis Montoya, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union. That contract expires June 2025.

Fiscal Uncertainty Leads to Shorter Contracts

With City Hall spending outpacing incomes, the city’s negotiators have had to reduce the length of contracts with its 11 unions, many of them down to one-year contracts, Dyer said. He said he prefers three-year contracts so that groups aren’t in constant negotiation.

“We have expenditures in the city of Fresno far outpacing that of our revenues, primarily because we have a downward trend in our sales tax revenues, our actual revenues. That’s occurring on a quarterly basis,” Dyer said. “It’s made it very challenging fiscally to be able to meet all of the demands from the labor unions.

Of the 11 unions, five have approved contracts with the city. Another three have tentative agreements. The city is in negotiation with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on their contract.

“We’re constantly in negotiation mode,” Dyer said.