Union members fill Vallejo council chambers to demand wage hikes

VALLEJO – Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 filled the Vallejo City Council chambers at a meeting Tuesday to emphasize their demands for wage and benefit increases in stalled negotiations.

The union has been negotiating a new contract since March, but said negotiations are at a standstill with the contract set to expire on Sunday. Union leaders said that the wages of Vallejo city employees are, on average, 22% below market rate and they pay significantly higher medical premiums compared to those employed at other agencies. 

At the meeting, IBEW Business Representative Kim Camatti said that the low wages are contributing to the city’s staffing crisis. 

“The only way we can begin to turn this city around is with adequate compensation and benefits,” Camatti said. “We are too far behind to recruit and retain as evidenced in our current vacancies and the turnover rate.” 

IBEW is the largest bargaining unit in the city representing 296 funded positions out of 682 funded positions citywide. However, approximately 30% of the city’s funded positions are vacant bringing the actual number of employees represented by the union to 200. 

The union represents employees in nearly all city departments including police and fire dispatchers, fire inspectors, code enforcement officers, public works employees and a number of administrative positions.

Al Fortier, assistant business manager for IBEW, said that the high vacancy rates driven by the low wages impacts city services and working conditions. 

“Employees have to work longer shifts, some city services don’t get performed at all, and with the high turnover rate we have employees who have a lot less experience than we would consider is appropriate to perform the work safely and to provide good services for the city,” Fortier said in an interview with the Vallejo Sun.

IBEW represents a large number of positions in the water department which has struggled to hire and retain employees, according to Water Director Beth Schoenberger. 

Fortier said that water treatment plant operators require certifications that are very valuable and once those employees obtain the certification and the licenses in Vallejo it makes sense for them to take positions with other agencies because the department’s wages are 37% below market rate.

At the meeting, Fortier told the City Council that workers have been making do with limited wage increases since the city’s bankruptcy and in the last 5 years wage increases have not kept up with inflation. 

“Meanwhile, the city has continued to build its reserves and the fiscal health of Vallejo is good,” Fortier said. “The general fund balance has increased 116% in the last 5 years. Current assets, net position and revenue have all increased significantly. This has been on the backs of city employees.”

The city has built up reserve funds in the last decade and the 2024-25 budget indicates that the reserve is slightly above the recommended level of two months of operating costs. 

Finance Director Rekha Nayar has stressed that maintaining the recommended reserve balance is beneficial in securing reasonable rates on the bond market when financing large upcoming projects like street repair and the new police station.