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City employees and union press council over 1% COLA; council met in closed session on labor negotiations
Summary
City workers and a SEIU Local 721 negotiator told the council a 1% annual COLA offer is inadequate and urged additional bargaining authority; council recessed to closed session under Gov. Code §54957.6 to confer with labor negotiators and later reported no reportable action.
Two public commenters on June 15 urged the Port Hueneme City Council to improve a proposed 1% per-year cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) offer for city employees.
Theo Provenio, a D5 operator in the city water department with 13 years of service, said the council’s current proposal of a 1% COLA over two years "in a high inflation environment isn't a wage freeze. It is, in practical terms, a pay cut," and urged the council to return to the bargaining table with a meaningful offer that reflects the cost of living.
Leonard Castillo, chief negotiator for SEIU Local 721, said the union supported movement in negotiations but that the membership still considered the current offer insufficient. Castillo asked the council to grant additional authority to the bargaining team and requested a special session on June 29 to consider a ratification vote should a deal be reached in the next bargaining meetings.
The council recessed into closed session under Government Code section 54957.6 for a conference with labor negotiators; the city attorney later reported there was no reportable action from the closed session.
Next steps: The matter remains in labor negotiations; the council did not disclose closed-session deliberations and the public will await further bargaining updates or any ratification item returned to the council.
