How Bargaining Works

Our Union bargaining team meets with the City once every two weeks, typically on Tuesdays. Each side passes proposed changes to the contract back and forth. No changes are final until both sides agree (this is called reaching a Tentative Agreement or “TA”). Once all proposed changes reach a Tentative Agreement all of the changes go out to the Union Members and the City Council for ratification votes. If our Union and City leadership both vote yes to the proposed changes, we have a new contract. If either side votes no, the Union and City go back to the bargaining table until a new Tentative Agreement is reached.

Bargaining Timeline

Bargaining on the PCL Contract Began on February 18th. All articles in the contract that either side plans on changing have to be opened by June 30th. Our contract expires on July 1st. Bargaining will likely last past that expiration date. Our current contract will live on until a new agreement is reached.

Based upon the legal guidelines for public employee bargaining, the earliest our Union could call for a strike would be September. Any movement toward a strike would require a vote of our membership authorizing it and would be communicated by Union leadership loudly and often.

How to Stay Informed

  1. Contract Action Team - Our Contract action team (CAT) members will be able to tell you what’s happening in negotiations and share your ideas for the contract with our bargaining team. Find your CAT Members using the CAT Map. Don’t see a member for your workgroup, Sign Up HERE

  2. Follow Bargaining Updates – We will release a bargaining update over email and on this Blog the week before our next bargaining session.

  3. Read the Proposals - Every change we propose to the City and every change they propose to us will be available for review on this website. The Union Proposals section lists our original proposals and first counters on a given article, City Proposals lists the original proposals and first counters from the City. Current Proposal will list the most recent proposals from either side including Tenative Agreements when they’re reached.

Resources