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Top Negotiators for California Employers

Employers of all sizes rely on Meyers Nave as principal negotiator and lead counsel to secure strong, lasting labor contracts, even in the toughest financial times. Every day we investigate, litigate, and train the same issues we negotiate, so we know what works, what doesn’t, and where leverage is won.

We negotiate contracts for every type of employee group, including:

Confidential
Fire and Police
Management
Rank-and-file
Professional

Comprehensive Labor Law Services

Meyers Nave guides employers through the full labor-relations process, from bargaining strategy and table leadership to impasse, management briefings, and Employer-Employee Relations Rules.

Administrative Hearings
Collective Bargaining
Concession and Interest-Based Bargaining
Discipline
Fact-Finding Proceedings
Grievances
Interest Arbitrations
Meet and Confer Processes
Strikes, Work Stoppages, and Incident Response
Unfair Labor Practices

The Difference Is Clear

We don’t simply “close deals.” We negotiate durable agreements that protect employers and strengthen the relationships behind them. Government, private, and non-profit employers across California trust us at the table when the contract has to last.

GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY

City and County of San Francisco – Chief Negotiator, Municipal Attorneys Unit

Chief Negotiator for MOU negotiations with the Municipal Attorneys Unit since 2001. In the most recent bargaining cycle the firm served as lead negotiator for the City and County and became the first negotiator to reach an agreement among more than 25 bargaining units.

City of Fremont – Co-Lead Negotiator, Police and Fire Successor MOUs

Co-lead negotiator across several rounds of negotiations with the City’s police and fire units, producing successor MOUs that included wage concessions and a second-tier retirement for new hires. The firm also reached the first tentative agreement of the most recent cycle among multiple bargaining units.

City of Walnut Creek – Five-Year Agreements With Three Bargaining Units

Lead negotiator during the most recent bargaining cycle, reaching five-year agreements with all three bargaining units that had open contracts with the City.

City of Napa – Lead Negotiator, Firefighter and General Employee Units

Lead negotiator in negotiations with the City’s firefighter unit and its general employee unit represented by SEIU, producing successor MOUs on terms favorable to the City.

City of Galt – Successor MOUs With Operating Engineers Local 3 and the Police Officers’ Association

Negotiated successor MOUs that included concessions on furloughs, reforms to health benefits, and the procedural and management rights provisions the City sought.

City of Morgan Hill – AFSCME Local 101 Negotiations

Lead negotiator in 2018, completing a new agreement with AFSCME Local 101, the local representing many of the City’s roughly 200 full-time employees.

City of Livingston – Police Salary Decrease Sustained at Fact-Finding

Represented the City in a fact-finding proceeding with both of its police units. On the arguments and evidence presented, the neutral recommended a five percent salary decrease for both units.

City of Modesto – Interest-Based Bargaining Assistance

Brought in when an interest-based bargaining process broke down, and negotiated a tentative agreement that resolved both a pending grievance and a complicated retirement issue.

Bear Valley Community Services District – Lead Negotiator, Staff and Police Unions

Lead negotiator for the Kern County district, delivering a three-year agreement with a newly formed staff union and a five-year agreement with the police union after years of strained relations.

City of Santa Clara – PERB Hearing on Dispatcher Unit Retaliation Allegations

Represented the City in a PERB hearing in which a dispatcher unit alleged retaliation through an imposed 12 percent pay decrease.

Menlo Park Fire Protection District – Multi-Day PERB Hearing on Bad Faith Bargaining Allegations

Represented the District through a multi-day hearing before a PERB administrative law judge on allegations of bad faith bargaining.

City of Pinole – PERB and Negotiations Counsel

Advised the City and its lead negotiator on labor issues, including drafting and reviewing proposals, representing the City in unfair labor practice claims, and briefing the City Council.

Contra Costa County – PERB Appeal on the Scope of AB 646 Fact-Finding

Represented the County in an appeal of a PERB General Counsel decision on an AFSCME charge, which held that AB 646 fact-finding applies to all meet-and-confer impasses rather than only to impasses in MOU negotiations.

City of South San Francisco – Sick Leave Cash-Out Grievance Arbitration

Represented the City in a grievance brought by the South San Francisco Police Association alleging that the City violated the collective bargaining agreement by not cashing out sick leave on separation from service.

WATER RESOURCES

East Bay Municipal Utility District – Grievance Arbitrations

Labor and employment support to the District since 2012, including prevailing in numerous grievance arbitrations against several chapters of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.