On February 25, IBEW local 1245 members at the City of Healdsburg voted 35-5 to approve the Tentative Agreement reached between IBEW 1245 and the City on February 18. The agreement will go into effect upon ratification by the City Council and expires on June 30, 2017.
The new agreement includes a 5% wage increase effective upon ratification and an additional 4% wage increase in July 2016. The agreement also provides for improvements in compensatory time off, standby, rest periods, educational reimbursement, tool allowance, bilingual pay and sick leave payment upon retirement.
Effective July 2016, the City’s health care contribution will be 90% of the 2015 Kaiser rate plus 50% of the increases, with the increased employee costs capped at 1% of base monthly salary for members in the Kaiser plan, but uncapped for members in the Anthem Blue Cross plan. More that half of IBEW employees are in the more expensive Anthem Blue Cross plan, and the parties agreed to form a Joint Cost Containment committee to consider less expensive comparable plans.
Local 1245 and the City bargained for 10 months before reaching an agreement. The IBEW 1245 negotiating committee consisted of Jason Hageman, Ethan Cottrell, Art Cruz, Valerie Macor, and Allen Roseberry.
–Al Fortier, IBEW 1245 Business Rep