By AMY KAUFMAN Special to the Daily Press
(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures appearing on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.) CITY HALL — City Council is expected to re-up tonight with a union representing more than 850 clerks, technicians and trade professionals, providing the city workers with a 4-percent cost-of-living increase in each of the next two years.
In total, elected officials will discuss spending more than $3 million when they gather in Council Chambers, the lion’s share of which is earmarked for Santa Monica employees.
The Municipal Employees Association (MEA) is proposing to renew its contract, or Memorandum of Understanding, which already considers additional economic factors affecting the employees. The agreement calls for the cost-of-living increases based on the wages of similar workers in the Los Angeles region. In addition, employees would receive a raised “pay for training” bonus, which accounts for time spent training new employees.
The two-year pact began in July and will run through June 2008, totaling $2,261,500, according to a city staff report.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 10, 2006. Read the original PDF.