Union leaders urge National City Council to approve labor contract after overwhelming ratification

Carla Panategui, chapter president for SEIU Municipal Employees of National City, told the council that 98% of union members voted to ratify the contract the city presented and asked the council to approve the agreement at the council's scheduled 6 p.m. meeting.

Roslyn Cassidy, the union's senior organizing representative and lead negotiator, summarized contract gains, saying the deal includes "COLA increases of more than 16% over 13 years," higher bilingual pay, residential pay, student loan forgiveness and added benefits for part-time employees. "That's extremely historic," Cassidy said, and she urged council members to vote for the contract.

Union speakers framed the agreement as a milestone that will materially improve many employees' ability to meet monthly costs and keep jobs they can rely on. Carla Panategui said members were emotional when hearing what they would gain and thanked the council for valuing municipal employees.

Public commenters also raised questions about the city's ability to sustain the increases. One attendee warned the June unassigned fund balance was reported at about $4.8 million and said that figure depended on a year-end $2 million ARPA adjustment, leaving limited reserves for future compounding salary commitments. The commenter urged council members to identify funding and to be transparent about future fiscal impacts.

The council entered closed session to discuss labor negotiations and other matters; the transcript does not record a public vote or final approval of the contract. The council announced a short break and said public proceedings would resume at about 6:13 p.m.