HUNTINGTON BEACH : Seasonal Lifeguards to Vote on Union

Seasonal lifeguards will vote today on whether they want union representation.

The Surf City Lifeguards Employee Assn. decided to conduct the vote at the Huntington Beach Lifeguard Headquarters despite its disagreement with the city over how many votes are needed to secure union representation.

Richard Silber, attorney representing seasonal lifeguards, contends that a majority of those who cast their votes would be sufficient. Deputy City Administrator Richard Barnard said a majority of all seasonal lifeguards--about 100 employees--must vote for union representation.

Silber said because many seasonal lifeguards already have left their summer job, there was concern that the association might not gain a majority vote. Because of that, association members have been lobbying hard this week, lifeguard Craig Shimomura, 25, said.

“We’ve been aggressively campaigning for this,” Shimomura said. “We’re confident we’re going to have the numbers there.”

Barnard said if a majority votes in favor of the union, it will become the exclusive bargaining representative for the seasonal lifeguards.

Seasonal lifeguards currently have no benefits, work for lower pay than year-round lifeguards and are not paid at a higher rate for overtime.