MORE GOOD NEWS – MEA Has Secured An Additional 15% Special Salary Increase for Park Designers
As a follow up to MEA’s earlier E-Blast regarding contract negotiations, the Tentative Agreement (TA) MEA has reached with the City includes a 15% special salary increase for the Park Designer job classification series (including Assistants).
Accordingly, if this TA is ratified by MEA’s membership, all Park Designers will receive the following pay raises over the two-year term of this agreement:
- 4% (general salary increase) on July 1, 2021
- 7.5% (special salary increase) on January 1, 2022
- 5% (general salary increase) on July 1, 2022
- 7.5% (special salary increase) on January 1, 2023
These pay increases compound upon one another, which means that by the middle of the second year of this MEA contract your pay will be 26.2% higher than your pay today!
In addition, this TA includes a positive change related to Landscape Architect certification pay. Currently, only Park Designers in possession of a State Landscape Architect licence are eligible for this 15% additional pay. The new TA includes Project Officers and Development Project Managers as being eligible for this extra pay – meaning if a Park Designer with a Landscape Architect license were to accept a position as a PO or DPM, your 15% Landscape Architect certification pay would now “travel with you” to that new position.
Both the general and special salary increases are also “pensionable” meaning that (1) they count toward increasing the future lifetime pension allowances for employees in the SDCERS defined benefit pension plan; and (2) they count toward increasing the City’s contribution to the 401(k)-style retirement benefit for those hired after July 19, 2012 under “Prop B.” Of course, because of MEA’s successful legal challenge to Prop B, all MEA represented employees will soon be enrolled into the SDCERS defined benefit pension plan.
These pay increases are the product of a multi-year advocacy campaign for more competitive pay and benefits for MEA-represented employees. MEA’s entire leadership team, its staff and legal counsel have all been single-minded in their focus to get general and special salary increases like these implemented by the City. MEA also wishes to recognize and appreciate the leadership of Mayor Todd Gloria and the City Council for their support of these well-deserved pay increases.
Please be on the lookout for additional information related to the upcoming ratification vote by MEA’s membership. Your participation in that process will be critical to ensuring that these pay increases are approved and implemented!
If you have any feedback or questions, please contact MEA at 619-264-6632 or email us at info@sdmea.org.