Union members and firefighters urge National City Council to back more competitive pay as labor talks continue

Union members and National City firefighters urged the National City City Council to support higher, more competitive pay during the council’s public-comment period, and the council later met in closed session to discuss ongoing labor negotiations.

Speakers representing the Service Employees International Union and the Municipal Employees Association asked the council to consider proposals already submitted to city negotiators and to back pay increases that would bring employees toward median pay levels. "Please consider the proposal that we submitted... to really consider increasing competitive pay for all City employees," said Juanita Castaneda, who identified herself as working in the Community Services Department and representing SEIU.

The council heard similar appeals from other staff. "I am here to ask you to consider supporting the hardworking MEA employees with getting us competitive pay," said Eliana Delgado, a National City resident and recreation supervisor. A MEA representative told the council the union can accommodate the city’s requested extension of the MOU but asked the council to support raising members to the median based on a human-resources survey to provide a solid foundation for future cost-of-living negotiations.

Jeremy Day, president of the National City firefighters, described staffing and scheduling pressures that he said depress pay comparisons. "Our regularly scheduled shifts equaled 2,912 hours a year. A normal 40 hour job is 2,040," Day said, adding that mandatory staffing obligations push many members to the equivalent of "two full time jobs" and said, "We sleep here. It equals four months of our life every year." Day said his membership has long lagged other cities, placing about 17th of 18 local cities in recent ranking data cited in his remarks.

Other speakers stressed similar themes: long service and repeated council promises to reach median pay, concerns about part-time workers lacking insurance, and appeals to treat the workforce as an investment in city services. "We would like to... bring the membership to the median while the city prepares to negotiate a contract with us," said the MEA representative. "We want fair pay commensurate with [the City of] San Diego," said Carl Atkins, who identified himself as library staff and advocated for part-time employees.

At the start of the meeting the mayor paused the public session to convene a closed session on labor negotiations. The city attorney said the closed session covered negotiations involving the Municipal Employees Association, the National Firefighters Association and the Police Officers Association. When the council reconvened, Mayor Morrison said there was "nothing to report at this point," and the city attorney confirmed the session reviewed the status of negotiations with no reportable action.

The council did not take any formal votes or announce next steps during the public meeting; union representatives repeatedly urged the council to support pay adjustments before or during upcoming contract negotiations.