About 30 Solvang workers went on strike Tuesday and picketed outside City Hall and Solvang Park downtown.

On Tuesday, several Solvang workers were spread across the city picketing at the City Hall, Solvang Park and the events hall. Those on strike were wearing their bright white Teamsters T-shirts and held picket signs that read “State of the city? Not so bright for some Solvang workers.”

On Monday night, the City Council unanimously voted to impose its final contract offer on Teamsters Local 986. Solvang will implement the 4% cost of living increase previously rejected by the union, and the union announced its plan to strike.

The city has 42 full-time-equivalent employees and 31 of them are represented by the Teamsters union.

Teamsters Business Representative Jeff Lee said the union-rejected offer entailed a 4% cost-of-living increase in the first year, as well as retroactive pay from when their contract ended in July, followed by a 6% increase in both the second and third year.

Lee said the city countered with a 6% increase in the first year, followed by a 4% increase in the second and third year, but after that offer was rejected by the union, the city defaulted back to the strictly 4% increase.

“We had put forth what we believed was a very honest and fair offer. We believed it was something that the city could pretty easily accept, and a lot of the bargaining unit members took it very negatively,” Lee said. “The city really sent out a message, and it was a very poor message, and it was received by the members accordingly.”

Lee said the union’s current plan is to strike for “as long as it takes.”

“Realistically, the ball’s in the city’s court. We presented what we believed was a fair offer, they rejected it,” Lee said. “So, we don’t know what they’re thinking right now. We don’t think that it’s very smart.”

City Council members said they were disappointed to be in the position to impose the contract.

City spokesperson Olivia Uribe Mutal said in a statement that Solvang respects the union’s “right to engage in protected actions and is committed to maintaining essential services during a work stoppage.” 

Some Solvang services will continue “without interruption” including water and wastewater operations and emergency response, according to the city.

Johnathon Flynn, the public works supervisor who has been a part of the bargaining team, described the process as one-sided. He said the bargaining unit is willing to return to negotiations whenever the city is, but that workers will remain on the picket line until they do.

“It’s truthfully been pretty disheartening, and it doesn’t really seem like we’re getting very far,” Flynn said. “There’s been a lot of take on one side, and not a lot of give. It hasn’t really felt like much of a negotiation.”

With the public works department maintaining over 3,300 trees in the city, the roads and city-owned facilities, including restrooms and garbage, Flynn said the strike leaves little room for day-to-day upkeep. 

The timing of the strike also comes just before Solvang’s annual Danish Days, which runs Friday through Sunday.

Flynn noted there is a team of six people that typically runs all traffic controls and coordinates with Caltrans whenever Highway 246 closes. 

“Hopefully, I don’t want to see the Danish Days Foundation suffer from this. That’s still our friends and that’s still our community, but I don’t think it’s going to be ran like it has been in the past,” Flynn said. 

Lee said the union is still trying to decide how Danish Days will look as far as picketing. He said their goal is to send the “right message” to the city, and also doesn’t want to create any exhaustion for union members.

Jeff Morss, a wastewater operator who’s worked in Solvang for over 25 years, said the strike feels “weird,” especially considering it’s the first time he’s seen workers on strike in the city. 

“We’ve never striked before. This is the first time, and it’s really odd. I don’t know what the council sees, what they don’t see, behind closed doors.”

Another worker on strike is Paris Wynne, who’s been the accountant assistant for Solvang for three years. She spoke on the importance of her job as far as preventing fraud cases, such as when the city lost $538,000 in a phishing scam, as she said a department head nearly had her process a fraudulent electronic funds transfer (EFT). 

“I received from a department head an EFT form that was from the company in quotes, and he sent it to me and said, ‘Can you please process this?’ Wynne said. “I called the company and it was fake. We would have given $900,000 in one paycheck to a fake company if I had not checked that.”