Berkeley averts strike with 550 city workers after deal reached with union
The city of Berkeley averted a two-day strike that was set to begin Wednesday after reaching a tentative contract agreement with one of its largest unions.
Negotiators with Service Employees International Union Local 1021's Community Services and Part-Time Recreation Leader Association reached a compromise with the city late Monday.
The bargaining unit's roughly 550 members will vote on the deal next week.
"Our membership was able to organize and exercise its collective power, and that created a lot of progress at the bargaining table," librarian Nico Ledwith said in a statement posted to the union's website. "There is always more to fight for however, and that's why we'll continue to organize."
Neither Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín nor city spokesperson Matthai Chakko responded to requests for comment.
The tentative agreement includes, among other things, a pay hike of 14.5 percent over three years, vision benefits, improved dental benefits for part-time workers and the addition of two new holidays—Juneteenth and Cesar Chavez Day.
The union has been in negotiations with the city since February and working with an expired contract since late June.
It also filed unfair labor practices complaints with the state's Public Employee Relations Board over the city's alleged union-busting, denying union representation and refusing to bargain in good faith.