Los Gatos Weekly-Times

TEA members vote on town contract proposal

Union leaders, officials hold their breath

By Clarence Cromwell

Los Gatos officials and the Town Employees Association may have narrowly avoided an impasse at a last-ditch meeting Feb. 12.

Union leaders and town officials will be holding their breath until they count union members' votes to approve or deny the proposed contract.

About two weeks ago, the union declared the impasse.

Disgruntled about pay and discouraged by more than seven months of negotiations with town officials, the TEA bargainers handed Assistant Town Manager Jim Piper a letter stating that the TEA believed talks couldn't proceed any further, the the Los Gatos Weekly-Times learned.

The TEA asked for a state-appointed mediator to help hammer out a contract. Under state law, the town and the union would share the cost of a mediator, if one were needed.

Before hiring the mediator, the TEA and Piper had to hold one more session, one attended by Town Manager Dave Knapp, to try reaching agreement.

Piper called that meeting "very positive."

TEA negotiator Kevin Flavia said of the talks: "We have a tentative agreement with the town." But he cautioned that union members won't finish voting on the contract until Feb. 27, and he hasn't been able to determine whether they'll support the proposed contract.

TEA members would not discuss details of the town's most recent proposal, nor would they say why they didn't accept the previous plan. The town and the union agreed not to discuss contract talks with reporters.

But the dispute centers on pay, members previously said.

The negotiations heated up in July, when the TEA refused to ratify a two-year contract proposed by the town because it didn't include a raise during the first year. The employees represented by the TEA have worked without a new contract for about seven months.

Piper said last year's $500,000 budget shortfall and the ensuing cuts have made collective bargaining a tough task this year.

While dickering with the TEA for more than nine months, the town has managed to settle with two other bargaining units, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Police Officers Association.