AFSCME District Council 36 reaches tentative agreement with City of Los Angeles

No one could have predicted that in 2020 the City of Los Angeles would have to deal with a global pandemic that would lead to one of the worst financial crises of our time.

After stay-at-home orders were issued, restaurants and other small businesses lost money and City revenues crashed. By April, Mayor Eric Garcetti sent a budget to the City Council that contained a furlough every pay period in fiscal year 2020-21 for a total of 26 unpaid days or the equivalent of a 10% pay cut for our members.

For AFSCME District Council 36, this proposed budget was unacceptable. Our members have been on the frontlines since the beginning of this pandemic and the essential services they provide should be protected at all costs.

We immediately began seeking out every cost-saving solution that would protect our members from furloughs and lay-offs. We were able to reach an agreement with the City to implement a hiring freeze as well as a Separation Incentive Program, which generated millions in savings. But furloughs were still not completely off the table.

Once again, we took the City to task and we continued working non-stop to identify more alternatives to furloughs and ideas that would have the least negative impact on our hard-working members. It took some time, but our persistence and commitment to fighting for our members has finally paid off! We have reached a tentative agreement with the City that would eliminate furloughs and layoffs for fiscal year 2020-21.

The tentative agreement includes the following:

  • This contract amendment will do away with furloughs and layoffs for all fiscal year 2020-21. If the City thinks they may need to furlough in the future, they must first meet & confer with the Coalition of City Unions before even trying to implement them. Mayor Garcetti has stated that his proposed budget for fiscal year 2021-22 will not include furloughs.
  • It will extend our MOU for 18 months to December 31, 2022 and delay our January and June 2021 raises to June 19, 2022.
  • We will take another two unpaid days in 2020-21. The Friday before Presidents Day or February 12, 2021 and the Friday before Memorial Day or May 28, 2021. We also have an unpaid day from the earlier LOA which will be on Friday April 2, 2021.
  • The City will increase the cap on overtime from 80 hours maximum to 240 hours maximum.
  • We also gained 40 hours of paid personal time off each calendar year. This time may be taken in hourly increments and may be taken on shorter notice than vacation time.
  • We obtained a reopener for January 2022, giving us an opportunity to reassess the economic situation.

We must now vote on whether to ratify this tentative agreement. Your AFSCME bargaining team recommends a YES vote to ratify this agreement. A YES vote closes the door on layoffs and furloughs this fiscal year and holds the line against additional furloughs in the near future. A NO vote will give way to 11 furloughs this year, plus an unknown number of additional furloughs next year and will keep the door wide-open to possible layoffs and furloughs as this economic crisis develops.

Be on the lookout for details on how to ratify the tentative agreement from your Local.

The fight to eliminate layoffs and furloughs has been tough, but throughout this entire ordeal we have remained AFSCME strong. This agreement was made possible by the strength of your bargaining team, the Coalition of City Unions, and each and every one of our union siblings.