Teamsters representative urges council to direct more collaborative bargaining; closed session had no reportable action

Andrew Coleman, who identified himself as the Teamsters business agent representing Redlands Teamsters, used his public comment time to press the council on ongoing contract negotiations.

Coleman said the union’s members enter bargaining in good faith but that "the city's negotiator thus far has not reflected that same spirit," calling the tone "unnecessarily adversarial, dismissive of reasonable proposals and counterproductive to meaningful progress." He asked the council to provide leadership and to direct the city’s negotiator to adopt a more collaborative, solution‑oriented approach so bargaining can move forward.

At the start of the meeting the city had convened a closed session item described by the city attorney as "Conference with labor negotiator pursuant to Government Code section 54957.6," listing agency negotiators and multiple employee organizations including Teamsters Local 1932 Redlands chapter. After recessing to open session the city attorney reported there was one closed‑session item and ‘‘no reportable action.’’

Another public commenter, Steve Rogers, alleged that a recent change to the MOU removed the city engineer requirement from the Municipal Utilities and Engineering Director designation without a proper meet‑and‑confer and asserted the change could violate the Professional Engineers Act; he asked the council to require correction during current contract negotiations. City staff did not take immediate action during the meeting other than to record the public comments.

The council did not take public action on the union’s request during the meeting; Coleman indicated the union remains committed to continued bargaining.