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7.1.A. - Page 1 <br /> REPORT <br /> To the Honorable Mayor and City Council <br /> From the City Manager <br /> June 9, 2014 <br /> SUBJECT <br /> Tentative Agreements for Memoranda of Understanding between the City and the <br /> Redwood City Management Employees Association (RCMEA), Service Employees <br /> International Union Local 521 (SEIU), and the Chief Officers Association (COA) <br /> RECOMMENDATION <br /> By motion, approve the new tentative agreements with the Redwood City Management <br /> Employees Association (RCMEA), Service Employees International Union Local 521 <br /> (SEIU), and the Chief Officers Association (COA). <br /> By motion, authorize the City Manager to integrate the tentative agreement language <br /> and execute the respective Memoranda of Understanding. <br /> BACKGROUND <br /> Over the past four years, the City has worked successfully with labor groups to <br /> implement benefit reforms in order to maintain a fiscally-sound compensation program <br /> for employees. In 2011, concessions made by labor groups resulted in a change to the <br /> City's benefit cost structure, including a lower second-tier pension formula and <br /> employee pension cost-sharing. In addition, the City achieved increased employee <br /> contributions to health care and salary freezes. All together, these measures resulted in <br /> $5.6 million in savings, which contributed to the City's ability to maintain essential <br /> services and programs during a period when the impact of the Great Recession created <br /> substantial financial challenges for State and local governments. <br /> In fiscal year 2013-2014, the City entered negotiations with four labor groups whose <br /> current Memoranda of Understanding were nearing expiration, including RCMEA, COA <br /> (six managers in the Fire Department) and SEIU. In addition, the City Manager <br /> undertook a revision to the Summary of Benefits for Executive Managers that was <br /> consistent with the City Council's compensation direction which sought to maintain a <br /> shared-cost model, more fully implement the State Public Employee Pension Reform <br /> Act (PEPRA), and improve equity across groups. The overarching goal was to provide a <br /> compensation program that was both competitive in the market place in order to attract <br /> and retain a qualified workforce and also fiscally sustainable for the long term. <br /> ANALYSIS <br /> City negotiators met and conferred with RCMEA, COA, and SEIU, working <br /> collaboratively with each labor group to develop agreements that aligned with the <br />