What’s at stake?
Two councilmembers alleged the city’s bus drivers union leaders went back on a tentative agreement, a move they say they’ve never seen before in their time on the Fresno City Council.
Update: The City of Fresno made good on its promise to file an unfair labor practice claim against the city bus drivers union, alleging union leaders backed on a signed deal and repeatedly tried to change terms after the fact.
Union spokespersons could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
That comes after the Fresno City Council voted 4 to 2 at a Sept. 25 meeting to direct the city attorney to file an unfair labor practice claim with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board against the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1027.
In interviews with Fresnoland last week, two councilmembers outlined the details of the city’s complaint. Specifically, officials said, after the city and ATU Local 1027 had reached a tentative agreement in August over a new bus drivers’ contract, negotiators for the union went back and campaigned for their members to vote down the agreement.
“ATU’s actions create a moving target that no amount of compromise or capitulation could meet,” city leaders say in the complaint filed Monday.
It’s something council leadership said they’ve never seen before in their time with the city.
“Yesterday’s vote was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make because of how much I value our hardworking bus drivers and ATU,” Council President Mike Karbassi said in a text message regarding the council’s decision Sept. 25. “But for their labor representatives to sign a tentative agreement and then for one of these negotiators to go back to their membership and actively campaign against the TA, I have never seen anything like this from a bargaining unit in the 6 years I have been on the Council.
“The evidence supporting this is something the City Council cannot turn a blind eye to,” he added. “It’s a disservice to all our bus drivers and to the thousands of other represented employees whose bargaining units continually negotiate with the City in good faith.”
Typically, tentative agreements signal a deal has been reached between management and a bargaining unit. After that, union members vote whether to approve the agreement, and if the employer is a public agency — like, in this case, the City of Fresno — their governing board votes whether to give the agreement their final stamp of approval as well.
But that’s not what happened with ATU, councilmembers say.
“We are the most pro-labor council you’ve ever had in the city’s history. And for the majority of us to say, enough is enough, you can’t continue to violate basic labor negotiation rules and maintain this weaponization of services to the poorest and most vulnerable in our community” is telling and necessary, said Council Vice President Miguel Arias.
Karbassi and Arias were joined by Councilmembers Nick Richardson and Brandon Vang in voting in favor of pursuing an unfair labor practice charge.
Councilmembers Annalisa Perea and Nelson Esparza voted against the move, while Councilmember Tyler Maxwell was absent for the vote.
Fresnoland’s Rob Parsons contributed to this report.
