Thousands of Los Angeles city workers are set to receive pay increases packages of more than 24% over five years, a deal similar to the one that sparked one of the city's deepest financial crises more than a decade ago. .

The new salary proposal negotiated last month by Mayor Karen Bass: 7 Cost of Living Increases From April 2024 to July 2028, workers represented by the Los Angeles Federation of Labor Unions will summary It was circulated by trade union leaders.

The proposal, which would require a union ratification vote and City Council approval, would also give workers the ability to cash in 50% of their unused sick leave upon retirement. And by 2026, the minimum wage for allied workers, many of them part-time, will be raised to $25 an hour, union officials said.

“The feedback I've gotten from our members is that they're going to enthusiastically vote yes because this is the best deal city employees have ever gotten,” said Service Employees International Union Local 721. Chairman David Green said. One of the six trade unions of the Federation.

The terms of the proposed salary are similar to a civil service contract negotiated by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2007, which the mayor later said was a mistake. The agreement, also signed with the federation, will see salaries increase by nearly 25% over five years.

The 2007 coalition agreement was finalized just before the onset of the Great Recession, resulting in slowing tax revenues and rapidly increasing retirement benefits for public employees. Increased salary obligations under the coalition contract further widened the city's vast budget gap.

Over a tumultuous few years, city leaders imposed furloughs and eliminated thousands of city positions, some through layoffs. The union also obtained concessions such as postponing some salary increases and increasing the burden of medical expenses for employees.

Before retiring in 2013, Villaraigosa voice of regret Regarding his support for the pay deal, he said it was the biggest mistake of his eight years in government.

Villaraigosa declined to comment when contacted by the Times. Bass said in an interview that the financial situation facing the city is different than the one that existed during Villaraigosa's tenure.

Bass said if the city were to suffer a major economic downturn, more reserves would be made available to cushion the blow. At the same time, urban workers face much higher inflation than during the Great Recession, a situation that may justify higher costs of living and discourage workers from looking for jobs elsewhere, he said. Stated.

“We have a high-quality workforce right now. We want to retain that workforce,” she said.

Jack Humphreville, who volunteers with the city's Neighborhood Association Budget Defense Committee, was more skeptical, warning that Bass and the City Council are repeating past mistakes. To pay for future raises, the city council will almost certainly have to downsize its staff, depriving the public of needed city services, he said.

“What you want is [city workers] Be paid well. But you also just want to make sure you're getting your money's worth, and I don't think we are,” he said.

City council meeting is scheduled meet on friday It was held behind closed doors to provide an update on contract negotiations.

City Administrator Matt Szabo, who has been with Villaraigosa since 2007 and is now the city's top budget analyst, said he still does not have an exact figure on the cost of the new coalition contract because parts are still being negotiated. He said he did not have one. But he acknowledged that the cost of the planned pay raises, combined with changes to health care benefits, would likely exceed $100 million in the first full year of the deal.

Asked if the budget could absorb the proposed increases, Szabo said the city would take “all necessary steps” to ensure the budget is balanced and “recession proof.”

Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who chairs the city council's powerful budget committee, said he expects city leaders will need to fill several city vacancies to pay for the coalition agreement. He said there was.

“It's impossible to make the numbers work and have the same number of positions and pay more salaries. It's just math,” he said. “But the magnitude of it all, we'll figure it out.”

Blumenfield said he expects future contracts will refocus city leaders on the city's “core responsibilities.”

According to one person familiar with the matter, a coalition contract is being finalized at a time when there is a serious staffing shortage at City Hall, with one in six City Hall seats vacant as of last fall. City controller analysis. Some offices, including the Department of City Services and the Department of Recreation and Parks, had more than 20% vacancies last fall, according to the analysis.

Mr Bass is expected to present his next budget in April. The spending plan should also make room for new raises and bonuses approved last year for the roughly 9,000 officers represented by the Los Angeles Police Protective League. The deal is expected to add $400 million to the city's annual budget by 2027, a fact that drew criticism from three of the City Council's 15 members.

The LA City Federation of Labor Unions represents 24,000 full-time and part-time city employees, including clerks, mechanics, janitors, gardeners, and other non-sworn city workers. About 8,000 of them are part-time, and about a third of them worked part-time that year, Szabo said.

SEIU President Green said his union remains determined to ensure that City Hall vacancies are filled. He also dismissed the idea that the proposed salary agreement would create budget problems, saying, “The city can afford it.”

Green said city budget experts have already expressed support for the terms of the deal.

“So this proves to be a financially viable deal,” he said.

The five-year salary proposal was submitted months after SEIU held a one-day strike at City Hall. In recent months, unions have been setting the stage for a second stage.

That showdown never happened. Instead, Mr. Bass agreed to participate in “intensive negotiations” with coalition leaders until 3 a.m. at the Bonaventure Hotel last month, Mr. Green said.

If approved by union members and the City Council, the new salary agreement would remain in effect well after the next mayoral election in 2026. Perhaps more importantly, the agreement expires in December 2028, after the Los Angeles Olympics that year. .

Bass said the Olympics were not a factor in his decision to negotiate a five-year contract. At the same time, she said, the timing will bring some benefits.

“It's going to be very difficult to go into labor negotiations when we have more leaders from around the world than ever before and the world's attention is on Los Angeles,” she said. “But that wasn't a factor.”