County Employees Reject Labor Contract, Threaten Strike

Nurses, clerks and 911 dispatchers employed by Riverside County have rejected a last, best offer toward a labor contract, threatening a strike.

After eight months of negotiations, the employees, members of the nearly 6,000-strong Service Employees International Union Local 721, said no to to a three-year collective bargaining agreement projected to save the county $23 million over three years.

The terms were rejected by 90 percent of members.

The county offered a 2.7 percent pay raise, with SEIU members asked to begin paying 3 percent of their salary in the current fiscal year to cover pension costs, increasing to 8 percent in the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2013, said Ray Smith, spokesperson for the County Executive Office, in a news release.

Currently, the county pays the employees’ share after five years of service, Smith said.

But the no vote results in the terms of the agreement taking effect after the Board of Supervisors' decision last week to declare an impasse in negotiations with the union.

"The pension system must be reformed," Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Buster said, in a news release. "I’ll bet a lot of our residents, especially people who are unemployed or facing foreclosure, will wonder how someone who has a job and a pension can turn down a pay raise."

Last week, the supervisors voted to require that, beginning Dec. 1, they, other county elected officials, managers and non-union staff pick up 4 percent of their Calpers payment. On June 28, they will begin paying the entire 8 percent. The change is expected to save the county $14 million.

Under the terms and conditions imposed by the county, 5,600 SEIU members will begin paying 3 percent of their gross earnings into the California Public Employees Retirement System beginning Dec. 1.

"Members have said they are willing to accept furloughs, a two-tiered pension system and to contribute into their own retirement," SEIU Local 721 Chief Negotiator Wendy Thomas told City News Service.

"This vote (by members) makes it clear, though, they are not willing to sacrifice fairness or equal treatment," she said. "By hiding behind the false pretense of an impasse, the board has turned a deaf ear to the voices of their dedicated employees that work in the trenches every day to keep this county running."

As many as 600 employees' jobs could be on the chopping block to bring the budget into balance in 2012-13, according to the Executive Office.

Because of the union’s rejection, Smith said, "county officials have taken steps to respond quickly should union members begin job actions aimed at slowing down county operations. For example, county administrators have contingency plans in place to replace striking workers in essential positions to maintain services to the highest degree possible."

For the last 13 years, the county has covered the entire 8 percent of an employee's retirement contribution, as well as paid its share into Calpers from the general fund. But with revenues down 25 percent over the last three years, a looming budget deficit of $80 million and an unfunded pension liability of $540 million, the county is tightening its purse strings.

SEIU members who have appeared at board meetings over the last two months said increasing cost burdens on employees would push some of them to the financial brink.

According to county Department of Human Resources chief Barbara Olivier, the union's membership voted to authorize work stoppages, "up to and including a strike," at the same time it rejected the county's contract proposals.

"We have not had a strike in this county in the last 30 years," Olivier told City News Service. "This is very new to us."

She said she doubted it would come to that.

"I think there will be some small, focused actions," Olivier told CNS. "But anything is possible."

If union members do walk out, Olivier said the county will turn to its non-unionized temporary workforce to fill any gaps and will also tap its database of more than 12,000 resumes for possible fill-in candidates.

According to Olivier, the county and union negotiators met three dozen times for bargaining sessions that bore little fruit. In fact, she said, the union's counter-offers to county proposals would have pushed the county's costs up $60 million over three years instead of bringing expenses down.

To offset the increased pension costs, the county proposed annual 2.7 percent "step" salary increases for each employee, provided the worker did not receive a poor performance review. According to Olivier, the union countered by seeking annual hikes that were double the amount offered by the county.

"Although all employees are facing an over 12 percent increase in their health care premiums starting in January, only select employees would have received a minimal 2.71 increase in pay based upon merit within the next year due to having regular wages frozen for over three years now," Thomas said. "The SEIU bargaining team's last proposal is a fair deal for all employees that offer a temporary fix to a temporary problem."

The contract imposed on SEIU members mandates that they pay 3 percent of their pension costs in the current fiscal year, an additional 3 percent next year and 2 percent more in 2013-14.

For some employees on the lower end of the pay scale, the phase-in period will be spread out over two years to ease the transition. Olivier noted that some of those impacted earn less than $30,000 a year.

The county and union are slated to return to the bargaining table in March.

City News Service and Maggie Avants contributed to this report.