Introduction
In the recent past, controversies have been witnessed in the line of duty and compensation schemes between workers unions and city councils. The massive rifts that have ensued between the two groups in many cities in the world have necessitated fresh negotiations between the two parties. Council workers have continuously condemned the unfair working conditions been created by council politicians. They have deemed the move as one geared towards increasing the economic gap between the rich and the poor, and they have refused to understand the complaints that the city council gives to cover the problem. This paper covers different issues as presented by the two conflicting parties. The issues of the City of Hayward and Council as presented by staff, Council, and the Central issues of SEIU 1021 as presented by SEIU 1021.
Central issues of the City of Hayward and Council as presented by staff and Council
The issues as presented by the council and staff seem to be less weighty, and they do not seem to have any short time effect on the lives of the workers. Though the council aims to attend to the complaints of the workers, the pace in which they do it is quite slow. Their slow reactions depict the burning issues regarding wage compensation as mild. They are concerned with stretching the span of completing the payment of the remainder of the cost of living. They want the employees to share in the cost of benefits. Their main issue is synchronizing the expenses and the revenues of the council. They are, therefore, concerned with achieving the ongoing specified structural change in the workers’ compensation packages at the pace of acquiring the said revenue amounts. They have an issue with the flexibility of the employees. According to them, employees have the obligation to exercise utmost patience when a better compensation scheme is being processed.
The city staff in presenting their concerns claim that the expenditure of the city is on the rise and has outpaced the slowly rising revenues. They are mainly concerned with fixing the worsening budget. Their major concern is the rising wage bill that include medical costs and retirement compensations of the workers. The overall viewpoint of the city is that if they can minimize the employees’ payouts, then they can easily balance between their revenues and expenditure and realize a coherent budget in the future.
Central issues of SEIU 1021 as presented by SEIU 1021
The issues presented by SEIU 1021, on the other hand, are centered on the idea of protesting on the issue of lowering their wages. Their concern is on the increment of the wages and allowances. The medical premiums, dental premiums and vision premiums are among the contentious issues that need to be addressed positively by the council. The union also wants the payouts to be effected within a shorter span of time other the one proposed by the city council. Sharing the costs of medical premiums also seems to be an issue of contention. The fact that the city could impose the terms and condition of the MoU on them also causes mayhem.
The union is in disagreement with the council on the issue of placing one-year plan to give them time to reclaim the savings that they had lost. As opposed to the city council, the call of the union is presented as an urgent matter based on their conditions. They seem reluctant in ratifying any agreement that could delay the enactment of a better deal. Their main reason of doing this is that they see no reason for denying them huge pay yet they work well and the cost of living has also risen considerably.
Decision on the Report
Based on the report, it can be argued that the decision by the union to protest the imposition of wage cuts is unfair to the employees. Though the expenditure and revenue gap of the city keeps widening, the management should consider cutting down on other unnecessary expenditure to enable them have a flexible budget. The forecast in the report depicts expenditure to be $172.47 against $147.89 in 2022. It means the condition is likely to worsen. The debt burden and liability of $ 892.4 that is revealed by the report also is not commendable. Svara claims that most city councils burdened by debts have mismanagement problems (6). The management of the council is to blame. The problem of mismanagement of the funds should not be transferred to the innocent employee. The management should find an alternative to get funds so that they increase the revenue earnings while keeping the rate of expenditure to the lowest point. The idea of flexibility of the employees that are recommended by city should not be applicable. The cost of living and inflation is ever on the rise and it cannot wait. The wage premiums should be fixed in due course. The ability of a worker to deliver in the workplace is based on health, and if the health of the worker is poor then the productivity of the worker is bound to decrease.
Works Cited
Svara, James H.. "The Roles of the City Council and Implications for the Structure of City Government." National Civic Review 91.1 (2005): 5-23. Print.
"http://www.hayward-ca.gov/CITY-GOVERNMENT/CITY-COUNCIL-MEETINGS/rp/2014/cca021814-P09.pdf." City of HAYWARD. Version 23. City of HAYWARD, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 4 June 2014. <http://www.hayward-ca.gov/>.
