The City of Burbank recognizes that work performed by city staff is above average and that our service levels are substantially above average. The City of Burbank also compares its salary and benefits with 10 to 12 similar cities and makes decisions based on the market value from these comparable cities. Over the past three years, there have been yearly increases to salaries, retirement and health care yet the employees under the Burbank City Employees Association are still under market value in these areas. In short, BCEA employees perform in the top five of our survey cities yet are compensated in the bottom five. It is our goal to reconcile this problem by proposing the following:

• Pay raises
• Increases to Medical and Retiree Medical
• Increase Life Insurance amount
• Negotiate a stop to the dental and retirement plan payments
• Increase tuition reimbursement
• Increase bilingual pay
• Negotiate various language changes in the MOU
• Address Grievance and Discipline Procedure issues
• Address shift-pay issues
• Address Differential issues
• Address 9/80 issues and inequities
• Address "Quality of Life" issues, including trends for more days off - Cesar Chavez Day, more vacation
• Address contracting out issues with a Joint Labor/Management Committee
• Address standby pay issues
• Address City field personnel cell phone issues and citywide call-out compensation
• Address MOU provisions not being practiced by the City
• Address City policies in conflict with the MOU

Furthermore, the market value for retirement plans is the 2.7% @ 55 formula. We are currently 2% @ 55 and are moving to 2.5% @ 55 in June. The BCEA is pursuing the position that Burbank should be at market value for this item. Retirement plans are traditionally a Union Coalition topic and the BCEA is pursuing this through the coalition and separate from our individual negotiations.

Lastly, the BCEA is pursuing the conversion of leave balances into a Retiree Health Savings (RHS) plan. A separate meeting will be scheduled for a presentation, discussion and a membership vote.

In Solidarity,
Darrin G. Borders
President, Burbank City Employees Association, AFSCME 3143, AFL-CIO