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GAO Committee Moves to Approve 27 Labor MOUs; SEIU Ratification Triggers Layoff Rescissions
Summary
The Government Audits & Oversight Committee moved to approve 27 memorandum-of-understanding amendments that collectively represent about $58 million in current concessions; SEIU's ratification prompted the city to begin rescinding roughly 1,200 layoff notices, city negotiators said.
The Government Audits and Oversight Committee on Tuesday moved to approve 27 memorandum-of-understanding amendments with a range of labor unions covering safety, municipal managers and rank-and-file classifications.
Chair Ross MacRaeamy told the committee the package represents approximately $58,000,000 in current concessions and, when combined with previously filed midyear concessions, could total about $70,000,000 — a sum he said arrived too late for the committee to get an independent budget-analyst review before an up-or-down board vote.
Mickey Callahan, the city negotiator, and Martin Grama, the employee relations director at the Department of Human Resources, said negotiations began in December and many agreements were finalized only after the city's largest union, SEIU, completed ratification early the same morning. Callahan said the SEIU ratification allows city staff to begin rescinding layoff notices that had been scheduled for July; he estimated the number affected at about 1,200 across several large groups, including nursing assistants at Laguna Honda Hospital and numerous clerical workers.
City negotiators described a mix of concessions across the package: some agreements produce one-time savings or wage deferrals, others continue multiyear concessions, and a few small groups recorded no net savings or produced arbitration awards. Examples cited by DHR included wage deferrals for police and firefighters (a 2% deferral for 18 months where ratified), furlough programs in Local 21 and automotive classifications, a change of paid holidays to unpaid days for parts of SEIU's miscellaneous group and a mandatory retiree-health contribution from the Laborers Local 261.
Speakers on the dais acknowledged the compressed review window. Chair MacRaeamy warned that the board has limited authority — an up-or-down vote on MOUs — and that the usual budget-analyst scrutiny was curtailed because many agreements were finalized at the last minute. Callahan said the city would provide highlight charts and detailed packets for supervisors who want to drill into the individual agreements.
Two SEIU-affiliated speakers addressed the committee during public comment. Edward Shauer, representing SEIU, called the package an important "first step" in a larger budget solution and urged preservation of services such as jail health and mental-health work. Rebecca King Morrow, an RN and member of the bargaining team, said nurses intended to ratify their agreement but voiced alarm at any simultaneous proposals to contract out jail health services or downgrade institutional-police roles that protect hospital staff.
Supervisor Sophie Maxwell moved, and Supervisor Eric Marr seconded, a motion to approve items 1 through 27. The transcript records the motion and the committee's intent to approve; no roll-call vote tally appears in the hearing record provided. DHR and the controller said they will provide charts and highlight documents that enumerate savings and the classifications affected.
The committee adjourned the item to the full board calendar as required; the MOUs were entered for consideration on the Board of Supervisors agenda, and DHR representatives said formal written responses and supporting charts would be available to members.
