Stockton Municipal Code Art. XXVIII Impartial and Binding Arbitration for Sworn Police and Fire Department…

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City of Stockton that maintaining effective public safety depends upon the maintenance of stable employer-employee relations and adequate staffing levels. In order to assure that effective public safety services are provided to all people of Stockton, a method is hereby adopted for peacefully and equitably resolving disputes that might otherwise lead to reductions in law enforcement staffing levels.

Strikes by police and firefighters, which endanger public safety, are generally prohibited as a matter of state law. Consistent with state law, the people of the City of Stockton hereby declare it to also be the policy of the City that strikes by firefighters or police officers employed by the City of Stockton endanger the public health, safety, and welfare, are against public policy, and are prohibited by this Charter.

(Added Election 11/5/2024 certified 12/10/2024)

Consistent with the policy set forth in Section 2801, if any firefighter or police officer employed by the City of Stockton willfully engages in a strike against the City, said employee shall be dismissed from his or her employment and may not be reinstated or returned to City employment except as a new employee. No officer, board, council, or commission shall have the power to grant amnesty to any employee charged with engaging in a strike against the City.

The City, through its duly authorized representatives, shall negotiate in good faith with the recognized sworn police and fire department employee organizations on all matters relating to the wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of City employment, including the establishment of procedures for the resolution of grievances concerning the interpretation or application of a negotiated agreement. Unless and until agreement is reached through negotiations between authorized representatives of the City and the recognized sworn police and fire department employee organizations, respectively, or a determination is made through the impartial arbitration procedure hereinafter provided, no existing benefit, term or condition of employment for said employees in the recognized employee organizations shall be altered, eliminated, or changed.

(a) All disputes or controversies pertaining to wages, hours, or terms and conditions of employment which remain unresolved after good faith negotiations between the City and the recognized sworn police and fire employee organizations, respectively, shall be submitted to a three-member Board of Arbitrators upon the declaration of an impasse by the City or by the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute.

(b) Representatives designated by the City and representatives of the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute shall each select and appoint one arbitrator to the Board of Arbitrators ("Arbitration Board") within three (3) days after either party has notified the other, in writing, that it desires to proceed to arbitration. The third member of the Arbitration Board shall be selected by agreement between the City and the employee organization, and shall serve as the neutral arbitrator and Chairperson of the Board. In the event that the City and the recognized employee organization involved in the dispute cannot agree upon the selection of the third, neutral arbitrator within 10 days from the date that either party has notified the other that it has declared an impasse, either party may then request the State Mediation and Conciliation Service of the State of California Department of Industrial Relations to provide a list of seven (7) persons who are qualified and experienced as labor arbitrators. If the City and the employee organization cannot agree within three (3) days after receipt of such list on one of seven (7) persons to act as the neutral arbitrator, they shall alternately strike names from the list of nominees until one name remains and that person shall then become the neutral arbitrator and Chairperson of the Arbitration Board.

(c) Any arbitration proceeding convened pursuant to this Article shall be conducted in conformance with, subject to, and governed by Title 9 of Part 3 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, as may be amended from time to time. The Arbitration Board shall hold public hearings, receive evidence from the parties, and cause a transcript of the proceedings to be prepared. The Arbitration Board, in the exercise of its discretion, may meet privately with the parties and mediate or mede-arb issues in dispute. The Arbitration Board may also adopt such other procedures that are designed to encourage an agreement between the parties, expedite the arbitration hearing process, or reduce the costs of the arbitration process.

(d) In the event no agreement is reached prior to the conclusion of the arbitration hearings, the Arbitration Board shall direct each of the parties to submit, within such time limit as the Arbitration Board may establish, a last offer of settlement on each of the remaining issues in dispute. The Arbitration Board shall decide each issue by majority vote by selecting whichever last offer of settlement on that issue it finds most nearly conforms to those factors traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of wages, hours, benefits, and terms and conditions of public and private employment, including, but not limited to the following: changes in the average consumer price index for goods and services; the wages, hours, benefits, and terms and conditions of employment of California state and local public employees performing similar services to the extent that such can be reasonably done, including comparable classifications in the greater metropolitan area, and in the four California cities larger in population than Stockton and the four California cities next smaller in population than Stockton; and the financial condition of the City of Stockton and its ability to meet the costs of the decision of the Arbitration Board.

(e) After reaching a decision, the Arbitration Board shall mail or otherwise deliver a true copy of its decision to the parties. The decision of the Arbitration Board shall not be publicly disclosed and shall not be binding until ten (10) days after it is delivered to the parties. During that ten (10) day period the parties shall meet privately, attempt to resolve their differences, and by mutual agreement amend or modify the decision of the Arbitration Board. At the conclusion of the ten (10) day period, which may be extended by mutual agreement between the parties, the decision of the Arbitration Board as it may be modified or amended by the parties, shall be publicly disclosed and shall be binding on the parties. The City and the employee organization shall take whatever action is necessary to carry out and effectuate the arbitration award. No other actions by the City Council or by the electorate to confirm or approve the decision of the Arbitration Board shall be permitted or required.

(f) The expenses of any arbitration proceeding convened pursuant to this Article, including the fee for the services of the chairperson of the Arbitration Board and the costs of preparation of the transcript of the proceedings, shall be borne equally by the parties. All other expenses which the parties may incur individually are to be borne by the party incurring such expenses.

Code of Ordinances

Volume I