OAKLAND — After more than an hour of discussions, Oakland city councilmembers Wednesday decided on a final offer to send to the city’s two major unions who have been striking since Monday, president Larry Reid said as he left the closed session.
“We have nothing to report out of closed session,” Reid said as colleagues left the city hall conference room, with the chants of picketers sounding in the background. “We decided on our last, best and final offer and now it will go to the unions …I think it’s something on the table to put before membership and get our city workers back.”
Mayor Libby Schaaf plans to address press members in city hall Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, the closed-door meeting with the unions failed to yield an agreement.
Schaaf said after Wednesday’s session that the offer that the city has already extended to the union carries financial risk under the budget. The impacts of accepting the union’s request for a 4 percent raise over 2 years for a cumulative effect of 8 percent, would have negative impacts on the city, she said.
The mayor said that city officials had to consider the city’s long-term financial obligations.
The strike means residents will have to do without a range of vital services including Head Start, after-school programs and senior citizen programs. All city-run offices that handle services ranging from issuing building permits to libraries will remain closed.
The strike involves about 3,000 city workers represented by two unions, SEIU Local 1021 and IFPTE Local 21, said Chris Fink of SEIU. Union officials said the strike originally was expected to take place only on Tuesday, but was extended because the two sides had not returned to the bargaining table.
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