Labor negotiations between San Diego and the city’s police officers have become unusually hostile in recent weeks, including city efforts to shrink vacation time and eliminate a pay raise officers get at 20 years of service.
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Police officers are one of three city labor unions — along with firefighters and lifeguards — in the rare position of working under contracts that have expired.
Local labor leaders say that with the exception of police and lifeguards during short periods during the COVID-19 pandemic, they don’t believe any city of San Diego unions have worked under expired contracts since the financial crisis of 2009 and 2010.
While the police officers union has been vocal about its testy negotiations with the city, union leaders representing lifeguards and firefighters have done little more than issue statements expressing disappointment.
But the firefighters union protested what it characterizes as relatively low wages during an early June City Council hearing about citywide job vacancies and worker retention efforts. They also complained that firefighters are frequently forced to work mandatory overtime.
A spokesperson for Mayor Todd Gloria said the city is committed to a “good faith” negotiating process but declined to say anything more.
“We respect the negotiations process and will not comment on ongoing negotiations,” said the spokesperson, Nicole Darling.
The city’s budget problems — including cuts needed to close deficits of more than $100 million for two years in a row — are a key reason labor negotiations have been more difficult and that the three contracts were allowed to expire June 30 without new deals in place.
Another factor was officials’ fear this spring of a possible November ballot measure that if passed could have cost the city roughly $300 million by eliminating trash fees from single-family homes in fiscal years 2028 and 2029.
When that crisis was resolved with a deal in May that killed the ballot measure in exchange for the city eliminating paid parking in Balboa Park and slashing trash fees, the city was able to quickly reach deals with its other three labor unions — those representing white-collar workers, blue-collar workers and deputy city attorneys.
But those deals included furloughs, and city officials say it makes no sense for public safety workers to take furloughs.
Unless the city wants to fundamentally shift staffing models for public safety, forcing employees to take furloughs could actually cost the city money. That’s because to maintain staffing levels, a furloughed worker getting regular pay would have to be replaced by a worker getting paid overtime.
The savings the city will get from the unpaid worker furloughs during the first year of those other deals — the new fiscal year that started July 1 — nearly covers the cost of the 2% raises and other benefits those employees get.
And furloughs during the second year soften the impact of 3.5% raises that employees will get during the second year of those other deals.
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Because the city doesn’t want public safety workers to take furloughs that would counteract raises, it’s offering their unions contracts that contain no pay raises in fiscal 2027 — and possibly fiscal 2028. That’s a key reason no deals have been reached.
The city is offering police officers a four-year deal with no pay raises in either of the first two years, said Jared Wilson, president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, on Thursday.
Wilson said union leaders were ready this spring to accept a deal like that and present it to members for approval — but before the deal was finalized, city officials asked for a concession on the pay raises officers get at 20 years.
Wilson said city negotiators want to eliminate those 5% raises because such hikes have only a marginally positive impact on officer retention. While city officials have suggested replacing the hikes with a longevity-based raise at 10 years, Wilson said the union opposes changing the 20-year incentive.
“We will not accept any contract that cuts pay to any member,” Wilson said in a letter to his members.
And shortly after the contract expired June 30, city officials eliminated a long-time fringe benefit called discretionary leave for all officers. It’s essentially an extra week of vacation.
When union leaders quickly threatened to sue, the city retreated, Wilson said.
“Our attorneys believe this action is illegal, unprecedented, contrary to past practice and is a hostile action by the city against our members,” said Wilson, suggesting the move was an attempt by the city to gain leverage in the negotiations.
Wilson said the tough bargaining is one reason staff morale is particularly low.
“This is the most challenging contract I’ve been involved in negotiating in the last decade,” he said Thursday. “I’m deeply concerned about the future of our Police Department.”
Connor Robbins, head of the lifeguards union, said the uncertainty of an expired contract is a problem.
“I’m disappointed we haven’t finalized our contract with the city,” Robbins said Thursday. “Each day without a contract provides uncertainty to our lifeguards who continue to show up for work and provide a high level of public safety during this especially busy season.”
Robbins said his union is being offered a three-year contract, the same length as the city labor unions that already have contracts — and one year less than the deal being offered to police.
A spokesperson for the firefighters union declined to say whether the city had offered its members a three-year or four-year contract.
“We are still at the table for a fair and equitable contract,” said the spokesperson, Crane Friedman. “Negotiations remain ongoing.”
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