The elected Bargaining Team has met several times with the City, passing 12 proposals to the City’s 7. On Wednesday, May 4, the City gave a presentation about their budget.

In their budget presentation, the City noted that they have the largest surplus in years, with an unprecedented 40 million dollar surplus in the General Fund, according to their second-quarter report. So why have they proposed NO wage increase, and proposed to END 100%-employer-paid health care, forcing employees to pay in? Why are dental benefits still frozen where they were decades ago? And why don’t they want to recognize the federal holiday of Juneteenth?

Our proposals have focused on equity, increased retiree medical, and an end to Oakland’s staffing crisis. But, once again, the City is focused on cuts and takeaways, and we’ll have to fight for anything and everything we get