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October 2003
Your
PECG Bargaining Team and the Department of
Personnel Administration (DPA), representing
Governor Davis, reached agreement on a new
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or contract
covering all Unit 9 employees. The MOU was
approved by the Legislature in AB 977 and was
signed by Governor Davis. As discussed in
more detail below, for 12 months, beginning in
October 2003, the 5% pay raise which began in
July will be suspended; employees will stop
paying 5% to PERS; and employees will earn one
day of
personal leave per month to be used
as vacation or cashed out later. In
January 2004, the state will pick up most (but
not all) of the
health plan premium increase,
and, from that point forward, will base its
contribution on a formula, rather than an
annually negotiated dollar amount. Other
significant provisions include
layoff mitigation
language and a
contracting out
joint Labor/Management Committee.
The MOU provides that beginning in 2005,
employees will begin receiving pay raises to achieve
pay parity with
California's larger local agencies, a
long-sought PECG goal. PECG and DPA have reached agreement on an
annual salary survey of those agencies which determines the lag at
various levels. A portion of the lag will be eliminated each year
based on annual updates in the survey. By July 2008, the lag will
be eliminated and full pay parity with those agencies will be achieved!
The Legislature, which must authorize or
appropriate funds for pay increases each year, balked at agreeing this
far in advance to raises two to five years from now which will be based
on an updated survey. Thus, in passing the bill approving the MOU,
they specified that the updated survey must be submitted to the
Legislature for its consideration each year, beginning in 2005, before
they make the decision to appropriate the funding.
This additional requirement for specific
legislative review during the term of an MOU is unique, but so is a
five-year contract with substantial pay raises in the later years.
Whether this legislative review in the later years will cause a problem
in receiving the pay raises as agreed in the MOU remains to be seen.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
THE DETAILS
In the Short Term . . .
Beginning in October 2003, the 5% salary
increase received in July will be suspended for 12 months. (For
retirement and overtime purposes, compensation will be calculated as if
the reduction had not taken place.) To offset this, the employee
contribution to PERS (approximately 5%) will also be suspended for 12
months. In addition, employees will earn one day of personal leave
per month for 12 months which can be taken as vacation or retained to be
cashed out in the future. Then, 12 months later, the 5% pay raise
is restored and the employees resume making contributions to PERS.
Pay Parity
For many years, PECG has been seeking to
achieve pay parity with local agencies, whose Engineers' salaries are
considerably higher than state salaries. PECG has worked with DPA
to reach agreement on an annual salary survey which determines the
amount of the salary lag at various levels (entry, licensed journey, and
supervisory).
Beginning in July 2005, pay increases will be
provided to begin closing this gap by one-fourth of the lag per year for
four years, based on annual updates in the DPA survey. DPA may not
change the agencies or classifications surveyed.
In July 2008, the entire salary
lag reflected in the survey at that time will be eliminated and
full pay parity with local
agency Engineers and related professionals will have been achieved!
(This assumes that the Legislature appropriates the necessary funds for
the raises each year.)
Health Benefits
The state pays 100% of the vision care premium
and 75% of the dental plan premium, which will continue. However,
the state's contribution to health plans is negotiated every year and,
in recent years, has gradually shrunk as a percentage of the entire
premium cost.
Under the new agreement, beginning in January
2004, the state will pay 80% of the average premium for the four
most-used health plans for employees and dependents. This means
the state will pay most (but not all) of the premium increase in January
2004. Then, in January 2006 the state's contribution will increase
to 85% of the premium for employees, remaining at 80% of the additional
premium for dependents.
What does this mean in dollars and cents'
In 2003, the state contributes
$226/$450/$589 toward the premium for employee only/employee plus
one/family. This increases to
$250/$514/$661 when the premiums increase in January 2004.
Thereafter, when premiums are raised, the state's payment will increase
based on the new formula.
Layoff Mitigation
Agreeing to suspending the pay raise for 12
months (which is offset by also suspending the employee contribution to
PERS) saves the state money. The MOU specifies that these
savings 'shall first be applied to
mitigate layoffs' in Unit 9 in the current fiscal year.
This doesn't guarantee that layoffs won't occur, but it will appreciably
reduce them. Some departments postponed layoffs scheduled for late
2003.
Contracting Out
The contract establishes a
policy 'to hire, utilize and retain Unit 9
employees before resorting to the use of private contractors,'
with some exceptions. A joint Labor/Management Committee will
analyze the cost effectiveness and other factors in contracts for
Engineering and related services. The MOU provision requires that
departments planning to contract out these services will provide PECG
and the Committee with Requests for Proposals and other
documentation for proposed contracts before they are awarded so the
advisability of contracting can be analyzed and determined.
Other Issues
Five years is a long time to lock up everything
in a contract. The MOU addresses this in two ways.
First, if other units receive increases in
travel reimbursement (meals, lodging, mileage, etc.), transit passes,
overtime meals, the rural subsidy program, or several other specified
items, Unit 9 employees will receive the same increases.
Secondly, beginning in 2006, PECG (but not the
state) can choose to reopen negotiations on up to four issues.
Also, mentoring leave has been extended to
cover participation in Habitat for Humanity, regional engineering fair
judging throughout the state, and the Sacramento Regional Science and
Engineering Fair.
Most other sections of the MOU --
Recruitment and Retention Differentials,
Vacation, Holidays, etc. -- continue
without change.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
THE
SALARY SURVEY BEHIND UNIT 9 PAY PARITY
The new Unit 9 MOU
provides that by 2008, salary parity with California's larger local
agencies will be achieved. This will be based on the Department of
Personnel Administration (DPA) survey of salaries in those agencies,
updated annually.
The current salaries
for Unit 9 employees lag substantially behind their counterparts in
those agencies. The MOU provides for elimination of that lag in
stages beginning in 2005 until the lag is totally eliminated in 2008.
This is subject to legislative consideration each year.
The current version of
the salary survey upon which this MOU section is based is shown below.
DPA and PECG will work together to update this survey each year.
The agencies and classifications surveyed will only change if DPA and
PECG agree to do so. The salaries to achieve parity resulting from
this survey are a minimum; PECG and DPA can negotiate salaries above
that level if they agree to do so.
Benchmark Title:
Civil Engineer/Civil Engineer Registered
State Comparisons
Entry/Non-Registered Journey Level: Transportation Engineer
(Civil) (Range A-B)
Journey Level: Transportation Engineer (Registered Civil) (Range
D)
Senior Level: Senior Transportation Engineer, Caltrans |
|
Government Data |
Entry/Non-Registered Journey |
Registered Journey |
Supervisory Level |
|
Salary Minimum |
Salary Maximum |
Salary Minimum |
Salary Maximum |
Salary Minimum |
Salary Maximum |
|
State of California |
$3,273 |
$4,550 |
$4,635 |
$5,632 |
$5,087 |
$6,181 |
|
Alameda County |
$4,710 |
$5,442 |
$6,013 |
$7,307 |
$7,284 |
$8,859 |
|
Contra Costa County |
$4,726 |
$5,618 |
$5,750 |
$7,733 |
$6,667 |
$8,104 |
|
Fresno County |
$4,454 |
$5,414 |
$4,329 |
$7,180 |
$4,961 |
$8,160 |
| Los
Angeles County |
$4,096 |
$5,088 |
$5,139 |
$6,385 |
$6,385 |
$7,932 |
|
Orange County |
$4,656 |
$5,327 |
$5,765 |
$6,606 |
$6,431 |
$7,367 |
|
Riverside County |
$3,556 |
$5,322 |
$4,419 |
$5,917 |
$5,323 |
$6,758 |
|
Sacramento County |
$4,152 |
$5,046 |
$5,290 |
$6,125 |
$6,421 |
$7,080 |
| San
Bernardino County |
$3,831 |
$4,890 |
$4,434 |
$5,665 |
$5,801 |
$7,429 |
| San
Diego County |
$3,621 |
$5,086 |
$4,926 |
$5,989 |
$5,817 |
$7,070 |
|
Santa Clara County |
$4,893 |
$5,950 |
$5,836 |
$7,093 |
$6,834 |
$8,327 |
| SF
City/County |
$4,483 |
$6,036 |
$5,891 |
$8,290 |
$7,893 |
$9,594 |
|
City of Fresno |
$3,427 |
$4,158 |
$5,121 |
$6,228 |
$5,828 |
$7,088 |
|
City of Los Angeles |
$4,256 |
$5,286 |
$5,566 |
$6,915 |
$6,543 |
$8,131 |
|
City of Oakland |
$3,883 |
$4,767 |
$5,243 |
$6,438 |
$6,445 |
$7,914 |
|
City of Riverside |
$4,414 |
$5,365 |
$5,110 |
$6,212 |
$6,751 |
$8,202 |
|
City of Sacramento |
$3,053 |
$5,240 |
$4,520 |
$6,360 |
$5,000 |
$7,502 |
|
City of San Diego |
$3,644 |
$5,079 |
$4,853 |
$5,861 |
$5,595 |
$6,764 |
|
City of San Jose |
$4,953 |
$6,034 |
$6,017 |
$7,334 |
$7,317 |
$8,914 |
|
California State University |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
University of California |
$3,417 |
$6,150 |
$4,133 |
$7,442 |
$4,550 |
$7,775 |
|
Federal Government |
$3,315 |
$4,309 |
$4,807 |
$6,249 |
$5,716 |
$7,431 |
|
|
|
Average Private Salary |
$4,936 |
$6,080 |
$6,958 |
|
Average State Salary |
$4,494 |
$5,406 |
$6,108 |
|
Civil
Engineer/Civil Engineer (Registered) - This is a working-level
professional engineer. Incumbents perform a wide variety of
professional engineering work in either an office or field setting.
As incumbents progress they are assigned more difficult work and may
function as a lead person over the activities of engineering and
technical personnel. The entry level requires graduation from
a four-year curriculum in civil engineering accredited by the
Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology or possession of a
valid certificate as an Engineer-in-Training issued by the
California State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers
and Land Surveyors. At the journey level with registration, the
engineer may be in a responsible charge capacity. Incumbents
at the supervisory level are distinguished from lead engineers in
that their role is predominately directing the work of subordinate
professional engineers and registration is mandatory for these
positions. Some positions may be titled supervising engineer. |
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