Glendora Council Approves GMEA Contract

The Glendora City Council approved a contract with the last of its three city employee bargaining units during Tuesday’s meeting -- a contract that included concessions amounting to nearly $200,000.

City negotiators and the Glendora Municipal Employees Association reached an agreement Oct. 10  after four months of negotiations.

Under new terms of the contract, the city will impose a 64-hour per year non-paid furlough, a 3.02 percent reduction in compensation. According to city documents, the furloughs will save the city $193,977, or $81,632 to the General Fund.

Other changes to the contract include a provision, which will allow the city to reopen the contract should the city experience a 5 percent or greater reduction in “sales, use or property tax revenue compared to the same six month period in the previous year.”

Employees will no longer be able to convert accumulated sick leave to cash. The vacation accrual for employees will also be reduced, with new hires allowed 10 days per year at hire and employees with 15 years of service allowed 18 days per year.

Currently, employees hired at step 1 of their salary range are eligible for a merit step increase to step 2 after six months. The agreed changes will increase the time to 12 months between step 1 and step 2.

The concessions are projected to save the city $199,693 across all funds.

The agreement comes in stark contrast of the previous year when the city imposed a contract on the GMEA, putting an end to an ongoing impasse with the employee union.

After failed negotiations, the

“I appreciate the spirit our employee group came to the city with,” applauded Councilmember Joe Santoro. “They understand our issues and that there are certain things we need to do in order to sustain our system through some difficult times.”