TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Diego Chavez, Director of Administrative Services
PREPARED BY: Colin Tanner, Deputy City Attorney
SUBJECT:
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First Amendment to MGEA MOU 2022-24 Addressing Market Nights Event Pay and Schedule Issues
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RECOMMENDATION
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Adopt Resolution No. 24-4732 entitled: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Murrieta, California, Accepting, Approving, and Adopting the First Amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Murrieta and the Murrieta General Employee’s Association for the period July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2024.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
On September 19, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 23-4704, approving, adopting, and implementing the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Murrieta and the Murrieta General Employee’s Association for the period July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2024. (Vote: 4-0-1).
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Maintain a high performing organization that values fiscal sustainability, transparency, accountability and organizational efficiency.
BACKGROUND
In August of 2021, the City of Murrieta (City) approved closing a portion of Washington Avenue on the first and third Thursdays of each month to accommodate a street market, which was originally scheduled to end in October 2021, but due to its success, the Market Nights organization asked the City to make the street market and corresponding street closure a year-round event. The City and the Market Nights organization subsequently entered into a Participation Agreement to make the Downtown Murrieta Market Nights Street Market (Market Nights) a year-round event and utilized an outside contractor to provide traffic control and protect vendors and attendees by directing traffic and preventing vehicles from entering the street closure area.
In August 2022, the City agreed it would purchase and deploy its own barricades, barriers, signage, and other traffic control equipment to protect vendors and attendees by directing traffic and preventing vehicles from entering the street closure area. The City’s participation in deploying barricades, barriers, signage, and other traffic control equipment to support the Market Nights required additional City staffing and expanded work schedules to cover the nighttime events. As a result, the Public Works Department created specific work schedules and pay practices for employees assigned to work the Market Nights but did so without meet and confer with the affected employee organization, Murrieta General Employee’s Association (MGEA), and without approval of City Council regarding new pay practices. In or about June of 2023, a dispute arose between the City’s and MGEA’s labor relations representatives regarding the City’s Public Works Department’s new staffing arrangements, including work schedules, standby time, and pay. Unable to resolve the dispute informally, on or about September 19, 2023, MGEA submitted a formal written grievance regarding this dispute and alleging that the City failed to meet and confer with MGEA as required under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) (Government Code sections 3500-3511) and the City’s Employer-Employee Relations Resolution No. 93-214, before implementing the original new work schedules and pay practice, and then later failed to implement the new pay practices (MGEA Grievance).
The City’s and MGEA’s labor relations representatives subsequently met and conferred in good faith regarding the MGEA Grievance and the underlying work schedule and pay issues in an effort to resolve the MGEA Grievance and thereafter reached a tentative agreement that requires City Council approval due to the additional pay issues involved. The City’s and MGEA’s labor relations representatives desire to memorialize their tentative agreement through the means of a First Amendment to the MGEA MOU 2022-24 that addresses the staffing and pay issues resulting from the City’s implementation of Market Nights occurring twice per month. This action will resolve the MGEA Grievance.
FISCAL IMPACT
The referenced amendment will be incorporated into the budget during a future budget update.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Resolution No. 24-4732