After police officers spent more than a year without a new labor contract, the Stockton City Council approved agreements that provide retroactive raises, expanded salary schedules and additional benefits for police officers and firefighters.
The council unanimously approved successor labor agreements July 7 with the Stockton Firefighters Local 456, the Stockton Police Officers Association and the Stockton Police Management Association, along with a new compensation plan for unrepresented management, confidential and law employees.
The firefighter and police management agreements are retroactive to July 1, 2026, while the police officers agreement is retroactive to July 1, 2025.
Before the votes were cast, District 1 Councilmember Michele Padilla thanked firefighters and police officers for their service and acknowledged the uncertainty they faced during the lengthy contract negotiations.
“We know the police department has gone for over a year without a contract, and I can’t imagine how frustrating and how discouraging it has been for the staff, as well as their families,” Padilla said. “I just wish this process hadn’t taken as long as it did. There really isn’t an excuse for that because I know it created so much anxiety within the department.”
Padilla said she was grateful the city and its employees “were able to reach an agreement without putting everyone through arbitration.” She said the agreements balance competitive compensation with fiscal responsibility and should help the city recruit and retain qualified firefighters while providing labor stability. She also said she hoped the contracts would mark “a new chapter” in communication and trust between the city and its employees.
“We want people to feel valued, respected and proud to work for the city of Stockton,” Padilla said. “Thank you for your patience, your professionalism and continuing to serve this community, even during a difficult process.”
As someone who led unions for 11 years, Vice Mayor Jason Lee said he believed in arbitration and a process that is fair to everybody. He said the city next needs to raise its tax base so it can afford to pay police officers and firefighters market rates or better.
“To the men and women who serve our community, thank you for your patience and for still being polite to us in the hallways,” Lee said. “I know that there were lots of days you probably wanted to say something to us.”
The agreements followed months of contentious negotiations. Police officers had worked more than a year without a new contract, and the Stockton Police Officers Association warned last fall that it was prepared to take the dispute to arbitration before the two sides reached a tentative agreement.
Firefighters also spent weeks negotiating after their contract expired before reaching a tentative agreement last August.
Labor agreements boost pay, benefits through 2028
The Stockton Firefighters Local 456 agreement, which expires June 30, 2028, provides a 6% base pay increase during the first year of the contract, consisting of a 2% cost-of-living adjustment and a 4% market adjustment, followed by a 2% cost-of-living adjustment in 2027.
The agreement also adds three salary steps and increases the city’s health insurance premium contribution by 4% effective Jan. 1, 2027, and by another 2% effective Jan. 1, 2028.
Under the agreement, employees may sell back up to 80 hours of vacation each calendar year. The agreement also provides longevity pay for employees with at least five, 10, 15 and 20 years of service.
The three-year agreement with the Stockton Police Officers Association, which runs through June 30, 2028, provides a retroactive 6% base pay increase for 2025 and 2026, consisting of two 2% cost-of-living adjustments and one 2% market adjustment. Employees also will receive a 4% base pay increase in 2027, consisting of a 2% cost-of-living adjustment and a 2% market adjustment.
The Stockton Police Officers Association agreement adds three salary steps and provides eligible employees with a one-time, nonpensionable $3,500 bonus. It also revises the call-back policy by guaranteeing a minimum of five hours of overtime pay at time-and-a-half for employees required to respond immediately to unplanned incidents while off duty and a three-hour minimum at time-and-a-half for employees who meet specified criteria. The agreement also clarifies compensation when call-back time overlaps with an employee’s regular shift.
Other changes update leave and grievance provisions by recognizing the U.S. Space Force under the military leave policy, expanding the definition of family sick leave to include a designated person as required by state law, revising bereavement leave language to allow the use of annual leave when applicable, and expediting termination appeals by allowing them to be filed directly with the city manager.
The Stockton Police Management Association agreement remains in effect through June 30, 2028, and provides 2% cost-of-living adjustments and 2% market adjustments each year of the contract, adds three salary steps with 2.5% between each step, and increases the city’s contribution to employee health insurance premiums by 4% beginning Jan. 1, 2027, followed by a 2% increase beginning Jan. 1, 2028.
City staff said the agreements are intended to help recruit and retain qualified employees while maintaining competitive compensation and internal equity.
The Stockton Firefighters Local 456 agreement is expected to cost about $4.8 million in fiscal year 2026-27 and an additional $3.6 million in 2027-28. The Stockton Police Officers Association agreement is projected to cost about $9.5 million in fiscal year 2026-27 and another $8.1 million in 2027-28, while the Stockton Police Management Association and unrepresented compensation plan are expected to cost about $3.2 million in fiscal year 2026-27, increasing to $3.3 million in 2027-28 and $2.5 million in 2028-29. Funding for all agreements will come from the city’s Known Contingency Reserve.
After the council approved the contracts, Mayor Christina Fugazi said the council heard from people who wanted it to settle the contracts, who wanted the contracts to be fair and who said they “had nothing to do with the contracts.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Fugazi said. “At the end of the day, our employees approved the contracts. That’s the only way it can happen. We go back and forth. They get a proposal. They say, ‘Nope. We don’t want that. We want this,’ and we come back. It’s a back-and-forth exchange, but ultimately, the members have to vote whether they want it or not.”
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Yearlong police contract delay ends with Stockton labor deals
Reporting by Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record / The Record
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By Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record | USA TODAY Network
