Union members prevent outsourcing in City of Anaheim

Members of AFSCME Local 2002, who work for the City of Anaheim, have successfully prevented the city’s plan to outsource work done by claims assistants and claims examiners who process workers’ compensation cases. 

In May 2025, Anaheim’s Human Resources Director notified employees that their work would be outsourced, and they had 30 days to find another position within the city.   

AFSCME Local 2002 immediately jumped into action and held a ‘meet and confer’ with city leadership to figure out why they were planning to outsource their members’ work. After being told that it was a done deal and that the city was moving forward with their plans, Local 2002 President Sandra Lozeau decided to take matters into her own hands and meet with city councilmembers and the mayor to find a way to keep these members in the positions that they are trained and certified to do. “As the president of my union, I had to do my due diligence to stand up for my members,” said Lozeau. “I think they [City leadership] underestimated our ability to get things done.”

Lozeau was advised by city councilmembers to discuss the outsourcing issue with the Anaheim Police Association (APA) and Anaheim Fire Association (AFA) to get a better understanding of the city’s reasoning. She agreed on the condition that if the unions could come to an agreement that would address everyone’s concerns, city leadership would consider implementing it. They agreed.

After meeting with the AFA and APA, Lozeau and a few other Local 2002 members began working on a plan to address their issues, which was that the workers’ compensation process was not streamlined. “I told our members that we had to think outside of the box and come up with a plan, and we did,” Lozeau said. “We worked out a plan with AFA to streamline their treatment by having a pool of doctors they can automatically use and listing cancer and cardiac issues as presumptive ailments and we brought it back to city council.” 

The agreement will save the city money by reducing the time injured firefighters are off work. It also saves the city money because less firefighters will have to work overtime to cover for injured firefighters. It will also allow the city to make sure the workers’ compensation workforce is fully staffed and add an additional claims examiner.

AFSCME Local 2002 members and AFA members spoke in support of the agreement at City council meetings and AFSCME District Council Executive Director Matthew Maldonado submitted a letter of support for the agreement. City council members were impressed that two unions came up with a plan that will help everyone. They voted on and approved the agreement on Tuesday.

This is why it is important for employees to have a seat at the table. “Two unions were able to figure out what the problems were and fix it, and I wish they would have given us that opportunity ahead of time,” said Lozeau. “Working with other unions has made us stronger and we are going to continue to collaborate on issues that impact everyone so we can help push the needle.”