Under the steady leadership of Mayor Barbara Lee, City of Oakland workers were albe to agree to a strong one-year contract extension, which they just voted to ratify by more than 90%. Despite the challenging economic climate, the deal contains no concessions or takeaways, and adds significant protections against layoffs, with added redeployment language, rules against replacing laid-off workers with contractors, volunteers, or TPTs, and increased notice of layoffs to help us fight them off.

Workers will also receive significant bonuses.

• Full-Time Equivalent workers: $3,000
• Permanent Parttime workers: $2,500
• So-called Temporarty Parttime (TPT) workers who worked 480 or more hours in the past year: $1,500
• TPT workers who worked 20 to 479 hours in the past year: $750

As a longtime champion of labor, Mayor Lee worked with City Council and City workers to create a balanced budget that prioritied safety and services and protected good jobs. This is a great example of the importance of working people making their voices heard in local politics: When we hit the streets to talk to our neighbors about what’s important to us, we can help drive investments in ourselves and our communities.

At last week’s ratification vote count, City of Oakland Chapter President Antoinette Blue said, “I want to thank the Bargaining Team for all of their hard work. I would also like to thank every member who asked questions, shared accurate information, and took the time to get involved and vote! Without you all, none of this would have been possible. We made some strong progress this contract, and over the next year, we have the opportunity — and the responsibility — to get ourselves organized and prepared to win even bigger next time.”