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City employees and unions press Oxnard council for fair contracts, health coverage and binding arbitration
Summary
Multiple labor representatives and shop stewards urged the Oxnard City Council on June 17 to secure wage increases, preserve health benefits and include binding arbitration in contracts. Speakers represented SEIU 721, Operating Engineers Local 501 and other city trades and stressed retention and recruitment concerns.
Representatives of SEIU 721, Operating Engineers Local 501 and other unionized city workers used the June 17 public comment period to press the Oxnard City Council on active contract negotiations. Speakers asked the city to prioritize health insurance for members and to avoid wage and benefit cuts that, they said, would harm the city's ability to recruit and retain skilled employees.
SEIU shop steward Sandra Diaz said union members seek health insurance for employees and families and urged the council not to cut wages and benefits. Several speakers identified themselves as shop stewards or local business agents and emphasized the essential nature of their work: street repair, sanitation, parks, water, building maintenance and other public services.
Speakers from Operating Engineers Local 501 described long-term staffing challenges and urged the council to consider the budget as a multi-year investment to retain staff. A recurring concern was wage compression — limited pay differentials among job classes that hamper retention and recruitment.
Some city employees asked the council to add binding arbitration language to contracts so labor disputes would be resolved by an impartial arbitrator rather than leaving employees and the city to prolonged administrative or legal contests. Alex Onan, a library employee and SEIU steward, said the current contract language limits access to binding arbitration and asked council members to support binding arbitration in negotiations.
Councilmembers acknowledged receipt of the comments and thanked unions for public service. The council did not take immediate action on bargaining proposals June 17, but council members and staff said they remain engaged in ongoing negotiations and would receive union proposals through the city's bargaining process.
Ending: Union leaders said they would continue negotiation efforts and expect the council to preserve benefits that bargaining units say are essential to retain a functioning, diverse municipal workforce.
