On November 5, 2024, the voters in Stockton enacted the first interest arbitration ballot initiative since 2008 in passing Measure N by 65.57%. Measure N amended the City Charter to establish interest arbitration as the procedure to resolve impasses in contract negotiations with the Stockton Police Officers and Firefighters.
The impasse arbitration process is balanced and fair. Prior to Measure N, when the parties would reach impasse during contract negotiations, the City could ultimately impose its terms on police officers and firefighters or just leave the employees indefinitely without a contract. This process frequently resulted in long periods without pay increases despite rising inflation.
Under interest arbitration, the parties still have a mutual obligation to bargain in good faith. The measure provides that at negotiations impasse, the parties shall submit a last offer of settlement for unresolved issues if no agreement is reached prior to the end of the arbitration process.
The process establishes a three-party panel (comprised of a city appointee, a union appointee, and a mutually selected neutral) that shall consider “the financial condition of the City of Stockton and its ability to meet the costs of the decision of the Arbitration Board” and “those factors traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of wages, hours, benefits and terms and conditions of public and private employment.” The initiative requires consideration of “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 next larger in population than Stockton and the four California cities next smaller in population than Stockton.”
The Arbitration Board would, by majority vote, select which final offer to impose based on specified criteria and comparisons to other entities. The decision is binding after 10 days.
In the rare circumstances where arbitration is needed to achieve a successor labor contract, the process protects public safety by avoiding long periods where police and firefighters have to work without a labor contract. Stockton has historically experienced difficulties negotiating contracts with police and fire resulting in labor unrest and long periods where police and fire compensation is stagnant while the employees’ cost of living has been rapidly increasing. These circumstances have fueled high turnover of police officers who can leave for other higher paying agencies nearby.
Binding arbitration is a particularly effective impasse resolution procedure for public safety employees who largely cannot strike like other public employees. Arbitration fosters public safety by replacing contentious labor disputes with a fair and prompt resolution process that avoids unrest and bolsters the agency’s ability to recruit and retain quality employees. Even Scott Walker retained interest arbitration in Wisconsin for public safety unions in Wisconsin to avoid strikes, despite rolling back other bargaining rights.
Interest arbitration is common in Charter Cities and Counties near near Stockton, such as Sacramento City, Sacramento County, Santa Rosa, Gilroy, Oakland, Petaluma, Salinas, Modesto, and Napa. Approximately 22 California jurisdictions and about 30 states provide interest arbitration for public sector negotiation impasses. However, Measure N is the first initiative passed since the Sacramento voters extended interest arbitration to public safety managers in 2008. In fact, between 2008 and 2024, several local politicians have attempted to repeal arbitration. In Palo Alto, Kathleen Mastagni Storm successfully overturned one such effort after years of litigation. Hopefully, Measure N represents a harbinger of more interest arbitration initiatives throughout California.