State mediators are stepping into a tense labor negotiations stand off between Garden Grove City Council members and their public works crews, who are pushing for raises to help cushion the impact of inflation and rising healthcare costs
Ahead of mediation talks scheduled for Friday, public works crews took to the streets around the civic center on Tuesday afternoon, later also confronting city council members from across the public comment podium during the council’s regularly scheduled public meeting.
“Does the city council care if the workers can’t reach an agreement?” asked sanitation worker Brandon Nunes, “Our demands remain the same: Respect the crew who works for you.”
Nunes drew a sharp response from Councilman Joe DoVinh at the end of Tuesday’s meeting.
“Well I got news for you, the crew that works for you includes my city staff, our city staff and this representative body. We don’t just work for OCEA, we don’t just work for GGEL, we work for every resident in this city – especially the taxpayers of which we are accountable.”
City officials say they’re offering fair pay and benefits.
“The City of Garden Grove is committed to providing equitable compensation and benefits for all our employees, consistent with agreements established for all of our other represented employee groups, while being mindful of the City’s long-term financial health,” city spokesman Johnathan Garcia said in a Tuesday evening email.
Ahead of Tuesday’s city council meeting, roughly 50 employees of the Garden Grove Employees League bargaining unit marched from the civic center to Stanford Avenue and Euclid Street.
Employees carried signs and changed slogans of “respect the crew that works for you!”
These workers – about 88 public works crews organized as the Garden Grove Employees League – handle a host of critical services like water, trash, recycling, roads, sewage pipes, trees, parks and assorted municipal amenities.
During Tuesday night’s city council meeting, public works employee Michael Rocha – also president of the Garden Grove Employees League – gave an overview of what the workers do.
“We take care of city streets, sidewalks, stormdrains, flood control channels and maintain about 25,000 trees,” he said during public comment.
“We also do our daily cleanups of trash, hazards and encampments left behind by the unhoused.”
The league is a chapter of the Orange County Employees Association – a larger public employee union representing more than 18,000 workers across 27 different public agencies in the county.
In a Tuesday morning interview, OCEA Assistant General Manager Tim Steed said the city rushed to bring a final offer to the negotiating table instead of hammering out a deal.
“I think that’s been this overarching theme – this kind of lack of respect from the city. Not taking our proposal seriously, rushing to the last best and final offer and not even having a closed session agenda item to talk about it,” Steed said.
The city council’s closed session agenda for Tuesday didn’t list any bargaining with the public works employees.
Under the old contract, which spanned July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025, Garden Grove Employees League workers received 3% raises each year.
“There’s no magic number that we’re riding or dying on,” Steed said. “What our members want there is they just want everyone to get a general wage increase.”
“The city has been so far unwilling to entertain that,” he said, adding there’s also some disagreements on how to handle medical costs.
Union officials are also pushing for more pay for employees conducting specialized jobs like operating heavy equipment or trimming trees – something that was also featured in the old contract.
City officials didn’t address Voice of OC’s questions on specific details like the specialized pay or general pay raises.
Before Tuesday’s employee rally, Councilwoman Ariana Arestegui expressed her support for the employees ahead of the march. She was flanked by Councilman Phillip Nguyen and Councilwoman Yesenia Muñeton.
At the end of the meeting Tuesday night, Arestegui said the employees are trying to keep up with the increasing cost of living.
“These are people who work day in and day out to keep our city safe, clean and functioning. I understand that negotiations have gone on far too long. They are asking for economic stability to keep pace with the rising cost of living,” she said, urging negotiators to return to the table.
“Our employees are one of the city’s greatest assets and I believe we can find common ground that honors their contributions and serves the best interest of the community.”
DoVinh said the city’s negotiating team offered a fair deal.
“On the table are clear and definite terms of a labor contract which we believe should be in line with other cities in Orange County. We already have some of the best deals, some of the best terms. Everybody’s not going to be happy – everybody’s going to walk away a little bit unhappy and that is what success looks like,” he said.
The councilman also said he’s the one that called for a state mediator to step in.
“We offered you a deal before your contract even expired. That is a show of good faith. I am the one that called for mediation, yes put it on my head and vote me out if you’d like. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with mediation,” DoVinh said.
Councilwoman Cindy Ngoc Tran said she appreciates the employees, but couldn’t say too much because the labor contract issue hasn’t been resolved.
Ngoc Tran said she hopes negotiators this Friday “have an open mind” and “look at best interest for both sides.”
Councilman George Breitigam supported DoVinh’s stance on the labor negotiations and said council members respect the employees.
“If anyone sees your work every day and hears about what good you do – it’s us. We hear it, we respect you. We appreciate the hard work. And we’ve given staff direction to conscientiously negotiate.”
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.