California maintenance union pact costliest since at least 2005

The Sacramento Bee reports:

A tentative labor contract for California’s state craft and maintenance workers hikes costs to taxpayers more than any deal bargained by the union in at least 11 years, according to a new report by the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

The pact with International Union of Operating Engineers Bargaining Unit 12, adds a total $473 million over four years to the state’s pay and benefits costs, the analyst’s office estimates. The figure includes increased pension, health care and other costs for the roughly 11,000 employees in Bargaining Unit 12 from July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2019.

In sum, the analyst wrote, “this agreement would increase annual state costs more than any of the Unit 12 agreements ratified since at least 2005 (when the Government Code was changed to require our review of labor agreements).”

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