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Thousand Oaks stagehands ask council to lift 1,000‑hour limit and recognize IATSE; city cites CalPERS rule
Summary
A group of long‑time theater stagehands said recent hour caps and contractor hires have forced layoffs; the city manager said no permanent layoffs had occurred and explained a CalPERS rule limits part‑time hours to 1,000 per fiscal year, with hours resetting July 1.
A Thousand Oaks theater stagehand told the council during public comment that he and other long‑term theater workers were laid off after reaching a 1,000‑hour threshold and asked the council to lift the limit or accept IATSE Local 442 as the bargaining representative.
Tim DeWitt, who identified himself as a resident of Sunset Hills and a stagehand, said he and five other long‑time employees had been laid off and that contractors without theater experience were being called to replace them. DeWitt asked the council to "direct the city to mitigate or lift the 1000 hour limit on us part time stagehands" and to "accept the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE, Local 442, as the collective bargaining organization to represent the stagehands." He said half the stagehands had signed petition cards and were ready to begin negotiations.
City Manager Powers responded during staff remarks, saying, "To be very clear, nobody has been laid off within the city organization." Powers explained that part‑time employees are subject to a CalPERS statewide regulation that limits hours to 1,000 hours per fiscal year and that employees who reach that limit "will have an opportunity to start fresh with a new bank of hours on July." He described the scheduling challenge as seasonal and common for cities that participate in CalPERS.
Powers said the city joined CalPERS in 1965 and that the 1,000‑hour limit governs how many hours a part‑time employee can work in a fiscal year; he did not announce any change to the rule or city policy during the meeting.
