Raises are on the Way for LA City Workers

For about 7,000 AFSCME members employed across virtually all Departments of the City of Los Angeles in a diverse array of jobs, there is some long-anticipated and very welcome news. The City Council last Tuesday approved all of the new contracts hammered out between Management and our six LA City Locals over the course of almost a year. That means, the workers' hard-earned raises, as well as retro pay, are finally on their way!  

Although we have not yet received a date certain for the payments, they should  hit within the next payroll cycle.  AFSCME Local representatives will keep apprised as we get more information on the raises, the retro checks and the additional Floating Holiday that we won.

These raises could not have happened without the power and unity of the Coalition of LA City Unions, including AFSCME, which was relentlessly pushing back for a fair contract against what had been a takeaway agenda. The City negotiating team started negotiations by proposing to reduce our wages, weaken our health benefits and undermine our Union rights and protections – but we all stood together and said, “NO WAY”!

In the end, the 20,000-member Coalition was able to protect what we had, plus gain new improvements:

  • A new 3-year contract locking in our victories;
  • New, pensionable general salary increases totaling 9.65%;
  • No out of pocket costs for healthcare (The City was determined to have us pay 10% of our premium, totaling thousands of dollars per employee on average. But we stayed Union Strong and secured our health benefits.)