LA council committee OKs 22% raise over 5 years for thousands of city workers

By JOSE HERRERA

A Los Angeles City Council committee approved new contracts Tuesday with three labor groups representing thousands of employees that would result in pay raises totaling 22% over the course of five years as well as improved benefits.

The three-member Personnel, Audits and Hiring Committee voted unanimously in favor of the contracts, which will be considered Wednesday by the full City Council. The contracts spread out wage increases over the next several years, increasing the minimum wage for city workers to $20 per hour, starting this year, with the goal of reaching $25 per hour by 2026.

Matt Szabo, city administrative officer, noted the contracts have been ratified by the unions representing the workers — the Coalition of City Unions, Engineers and Architects Association and the City Attorney Units. The City Council will need to approve the contracts before they can take effect.

The contracts would impact “just about every civilian employee in the city of Los Angeles,” or 33,450 workers, Szabo said. Workers in areas such as recreation and parks, sanitation, custodians, traffic control officers, Los Angeles World Airports positions and accountants, among others, are expected to receive a 6% boost, in total, to their wages by the end of 2024.

Szabo noted that while the contracts share similarities there are differences. For workers represented by the Coalition of City Unions, the contract would carry through December 2028, providing a 22% boost to their wages. The EAA’s contract will provide members with a 17% increase in wages through December 2027. The City Attorney Units’ contract will carry through June 2028, providing a 22% increase to their wages.

In addition to wage increases, the contracts outline other pay benefits, such as for bilingual workers and employees who work the graveyard shift from midnight to 8 a.m.

The city updated its sick leave payout from 50% to 100%, pertaining to both annual payouts and upon retirement. There are also improvements to paid parental leave, increasing paid time off to 12 weeks. According to Szabo, those two provisions are being rolled out in hopes of increasing the retention of all city employees.

Hourly, intermittent workers would also be eligible for health-care coverage. Many intermittent workers are employees at recreation and parks, often seasonal workers.

“We currently do not provide a health-care benefit for these employees,” Szabo noted. “What we have agreed to do is provide a prorated rate at the single party coverage rate of Kaiser, so that’s currently about $9.70 an hour. We will not be adding that to their take-home pay — we would be setting that aside.”

Details are still being finalized, but the city has agreed that there will be a health-care allocation for every hour worked by every employee in the city for at least the single party coverage rate.

City officials are also working on potential housing arrangements to ensure employees live in the city by providing mortgage or rent-reduction benefits, as well as building housing on city-owned property and setting aside some units for qualifying city employees.

Szabo said there was an effort to address hiring and retention issues where they are most concerning, such as for classifications of police service representatives, or 911 operators, as well as city veterinarians. Operators would see higher retention pay that would steadily increase after six years of service, and veterinarians would receive an additional 20% increase.

Steve Koffroth, chair of the Coalition of City Unions and interim director of research and marketing at SEIU Local 721, urged the committee to approve the agreements, calling them a “good deal for all parties.”

“This deal reflects the reality that we’re in,” Koffroth said. “Prior budgets had a wishful notion that missed an important point — you need actual workers and budget authorities to provide the actual services.”

He added, “Your approval means respecting and retaining employees who have faithfully served the city through many trials.”

Marleen Fonseca, executive director of the Engineers and Architects Association, echoed Koffroth’s sentiments, adding that the union’s members “approved the contract overwhelmingly.” She said she believes the city can handle the cost associated with the contract.

“As emphasized by Mayor (Karen Bass) at her State of the City speech last night, billions of dollars are expected to be generated over the coming years with the World Cup and the Olympics,” Fonseca said in an email to City News Service.

Fonseca said there was much to celebrate regarding the contract, but when negotiations open again, the union will place more focus on “work-life balance” to promote employee well-being, keep retention high and production at healthy levels.

Officials with the City Attorney Units did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While committee members thanked Szabo, his staff, and the city’s labor partners for reaching this point, there were budget concerns.

By fiscal year 2028-29, the contracts are expected to total more than $1 billion, and the cumulative number is estimated at $3.5 billion.

“When I say cumulative, that is how much in total over the course of the five-year agreement, or four-year agreement, the city will pay out because an increase on top of an increase in the following year — you pay both of those increases,” Szabo said.

Councilman Tim McOsker, who chairs the personnel committee, asked about the typical growth of the city’s budget through 2029, a question prompted by the fact that the city currently faces a $467 million deficit as a result of unexpected spending and low revenues.

“Our 20-year general fund average is between 2.5% to 3.5% a year,” Szabo said. “I expect that when you see the mayor’s proposed budget, the general fund growth will be significantly lower than our 20-year average, significantly lower. So over five years, using our 20-year average our general fund growth would exceed the increase in the general fund annual obligation.”

Tentative agreements between the city and the unions were reached earlier this year.