The city of Palo Alto, facing a budget shortfall, was able to get concessions from its police and fire unions but couldn’t come to an agreement with SEIU. All of the unions were slated to get 3% raises for the fiscal year starting in July under previously negotiated contracts.
The police and fire unions agreed to give up all of the 3% raise while SEIU would only agree to reduce its raise to 2%. An SEIU official said at Monday’s council meeting that the city rejected that proposal, which would indicate that SEIU will get the full 3% raise.
City officials couldn’t be reached last night to confirm that.
City Chief Financial Officer Kiely Nose said the city will let go only 19 employees in the fiscal year starting July 1, fewer than first thought. The city will eliminate more than 70 positions, but because of vacancies and the ability of laid off workers to “bump” employees with less seniority out of their jobs, the actual number of full-timers to hit the streets is 19.
The union givebacks will soften that blow for police and fire.