The City of Orange just issued a press release regarding city workers beginning a strike on March 1. The release says in part;
“The City of Orange officially received notice that the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 47 intends to initiate a strike beginning on Sunday, March 1st. IBEW Local 47 represents City employees in the Maintenance & Crafts and Water Division.During the anticipated strike, Orange residents and businesses may experience delayed, reduced, or modified services levels, including:
- Maintenance and repair services
- Water meter reading services
- Response to time-sensitive issues
- Non-emergency field and administrative services, including parks maintenance
Police, fire, emergency response services, and the safety of the City’s drinking water systems will not be affected.
The City is making every possible effort to ensure that public services are maintained for the duration of the anticipated strike. Contingency plans have been developed to ensure service impacts, if any, are limited. In-house staffing resources will be deployed to focus exclusively on front-line, essential services.
Utility Billing Processes and Service Requests
During the anticipated strike, water meter reading services may be disrupted. In the case water meter reading services are impacted, the City’s Utility Billing Division has developed a temporary billing process.”
Our research indicates that these city employees appear to be the lowest paid workers in Orange County when compared to similar positions in all other cities.
While no public timetable for further negotiations has been announced, it is expected that the City of Orange and the union will continue talks aimed at resolving their respective issues.
Negotiations with other unions representing city workers are likely to also be contentious as contracts expire and workers seek increases to pay rates more in line with rates other cities pay their workers. Several city employees unions support putting a sales tax increase on the November ballot to help ease the serious budget issues Orange is facing.
