Striking city workers of Solvang rejected a new contract offer from the city on Friday, following a meeting at the bargaining table on Thursday.
Since Sept. 15, about 30 Solvang city workers have been on strike. They stopped working after the City Council imposed its final contract offer of a one-year, 4% cost-of-living increase, which followed five months of failed negotiations with Teamsters Local 986.
Friday morning, the city alerted local media that officials would be holding a “final labor negotiation update” at 1:30 p.m.
During the conference, Assistant City Manager Oliva Uribe-Mutal said the Teamsters Local 986 had rejected the city’s offer of a 6%, 5% and 4% cost-of-living increase over three years. That offer was rejected at 12:57 p.m.
According to Uribe-Mutal, the union asked for 6% increases each year over the three-year period. Since the two parties haven’t reached an agreement, the city’s imposed 4% increase is in effect.
“The 4% is already in place. It’s sitting there, waiting for every one of our employees to come back,” Uribe-Mutal said. “Our door is open, and we want our people back.”
The vote leaves the city and the union without an agreement, after nearly three weeks of striking.
Solvang has 42 full-time equivalent staff, and 31 staff members belong to the Teamsters union, according to the city. A few employees have positions that are exempted from the strike, according to the city.
In order to keep Solvang operating, the city is using backup staffing and outside contractors to address work shortages such as water utilities and park maintenance.
Uribe-Mutal said the union did not have a counteroffer to the city’s Friday proposal. She said the city remains willing to negotiate, however, could not confirm what the next steps were without the city’s legal advisor.
Uribe-Mutal said that the pay dispute is based on a compensation study from 2024, which found that most represented employees were paid within regional market ranges, whereas management positions needed increases.
She said that the union never disputed the methodology of the study, but rather the results.
However, Teamsters representatives Jeff Lee and Cliff Reynolds offered a contrasting view of negotiations in an interview with Noozhawk after the conference. Reynolds argued the union rejected the 6%-5%-4% offer since the city funded those percentage increases by withdrawing other proposed economic benefits opposed to adding municipal funding.
“All [the city] did was take money, we gave you money back, and then you just put it over here in wages, and so it’s really no more money coming from the city,” Reynolds said.
According to Lee, the city also rejected granting retroactive pay dating back to July 1, when the previous contract expired. He said the city has been saving significant payroll expenses through the strike.
Lee argued against the notion that management compensation needed adjustments. Management employees don’t have a retention issue, he argued, while represented employees do. Lee said 75% of the Teamsters employees have been working with the city for less than five years, which is the threshold to receive longevity pay.
During the press conference, which was held in the city’s visitor center and included press and city officials, Mayor David Brown expressed his disappointment towards the strike and acknowledged how it affected residents and businesses. Uribe-Mutal also cautioned striking employees that time spent not working does not accumulate in retirement service credits.
However, Lee noted the support from the community throughout the picketline, and confirmed that the striking will continue. He also said the union remains ready to return to the bargaining table.
“We’re gaining more and more support every day from the community that are telling these bargaining unit members they have their back and they’re putting their money where their mouth is, literally to show them that,” Lee said.
“Our objective is to get these bargaining unit members back to work with a fair offer,” he continued.
