A breakthrough in union negotiations

A crucial part of city officials' plan to deal with an ever-growing deficit this year has been to get one of its major employee unions to agree to give up a pay increase that is scheduled to take place this month.

Apparently, the framework of a deal is now in place, according to City Manager Michael Beck, though the agreement still needs to be approved by the City Council, and by board members of the Pasadena Management Association union.

Beck's position was for the PMA to completely give up the four percent raise its members were due as part of an ill-advised agreement city officials agreed to in August of 2008, just as the severity of the recession was starting to become painfully obvious.

PMA negotiators were trying to convince the city to agree to a salary deferral or some other lesser cuts.

Details of the deal are not being released right now since both sides still need to approve it. But when the details come out, it should be interesting. The city's strength in the negotiations were that it had as an alternative the threat of furloughs if the pay cut was not accepted.

But the union felt it had a strong backing from City Council matters. Several of them were questioning why the PMA in particular was being targeted when other unions were not. One of them, the IBEW, refused to take any kind of reduction in the raise it was due last year.

Which one had the stronger position, we'll hopefully find out soon.