Today, April 27, 2020, the
Coalition of County Unions
(CCU),
of which PPOA is a member, was officially notified by the Los Angeles County CEO’s office of their “desire to reopen the 2018-2021 Coalition of County Unions Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding Fringe Benefits.” The reason cited for the reopening is “to discuss the County’s matching contribution (up to 4%) to 457 plan participants.” Further, the request comes “on the immediate and anticipated ongoing expenses associated with the County’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
PPOA was advised of the potential of this move by the CEO’s office during conference calls late last week. On Friday, April 24, 2020, a conference with CCU leadership was conducted with every union on that call in agreement that the reopening of the MOU cannot and will not occur until detailed fiscal information of the County’s budget is provided. The information requested includes the current as well as projected expenses and loss of revenue due to the COVID-19 crisis, the proposed Fiscal Year 2020-21 Budget, and any changes to the FY 20-21 Recommended Budget once Federal/State reimbursements for the COVID-19 response are identified or received.
This request of the County was not a surprise. Once the CEO notified the unions that MegaFlex employees would not be receiving matching contributions to their 401K (up to 4%) and 457 (up to 4%) plans for the remainder of this fiscal year, PPOA circled the wagons with other union leadership and began discussing various scenarios and strategies. The Chair of the CCU, working with legal counsel and budgetary consultants, has prepared a detailed information request in response to the CEO’s notification. PPOA will continue to work collaboratively with all parties to address these concerns and defend any potential circumstances which would represent a loss of any kind to our members. Additional budget information regarding the “Deep impacts from COVID-19” can be found at
https://lacounty.gov/budget/
.
