Posted: Monday, February 10, 2014 10:21 am | Updated: 10:36 am, Mon Feb 10, 2014.
Evan Bell • Reporter

County board narrowly imposes ‘last’ offer to union

Supervisors in recent weeks voted 3-2 to impose their “last, best and final offer” on government union workers after months of tense negotiations and false starts.

The board held a last-minute meeting with the union in late January to come up with an agreement before the vote, but the meeting fell through after Service Employees International Union officials made it clear to the board they could not accept a tentative agreement submitted by an outside mediator – which would have reduced health care benefits and required workers to pay more into CalPERS pension plans.

“We voted to not accept the arbitrator’s final recommendation and imposed the last, best and final offer,” Supervisor Jerry Muenzer said.

Muenzer said the county made the offer to the union in October and he voted to impose the offer.
Supervisors Anthony Botelho and Margie Barrios also approved it.

The union in response has filed an “Unfair Labor Practices” claim against the county after filing two other such claims against the county during negotiations. The tentative agreement would have required the union to drop the claim against the county.
The biggest difference between the tentative agreement reached in November and the original offer was the amount workers would have to contribute to their CalPERS pension plan, as well as wage reductions.

Supervisor Robert Rivas said the offer would require workers to pay 7 percent of their paychecks into CalPERS immediately instead of 5 percent and 2 percent later in the year per the tentative agreement. Also, there was no wage reduction in the tentative agreement. With the last and final offer, wages would be reduced by 1.5 percent. That rate would last one year instead of two in the tentative agreement.

With the last and best offer instituted, the county expects to save about $820,000 on a half-year basis in 2014.

The contract between the county and SEIU expired in September after six years. The union and county had been negotiating since July on a new contract, but in October the county declared an impasse with the union and issued its last offer. The union rejected the offer and instead requested mediation with the county to come up with an alternative agreement.

The parties reached a tentative agreement in November, but the membership of the union rejected the agreement and requested further fact-finding meetings with the county in December.

Rivas voted against the offer, along with Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz. Rivas said he doesn’t know why the board members decided to impose the last offer instead of the tentative agreement.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said.

From the start, he said, he was looking to find an “equitable” outcome between the county and the workers.

“I was looking for an agreement that was fair for (SEIU workers), but also reflects the concerns of our local taxpayers,” he said.

He said he does not know what will happen now and says the union has mentioned the possibility of a strike due to the vote.

“I certainly understand the frustrations of the local workers,” he said.

Internal organizer Henry Soria said the cuts would have an “impact on services” in the community.

“The pay wasn’t competitive with surrounding counties,” he said. “It’s really obliterated the attractions San Benito County had in compensation.”

He said the last offer is a significant cut, even when the county is running a “significant surplus.”

SEIU membershiop voted last Monday to forgo a possible strike in favor of negotiations – for the time being, he said.

“Everything’s on the table” he said.

“There’s been a positive development in that the county and union are discussing possible ways to resolve this,” he said.

Ray Espinosa, the county administrator, said that for right now, the contract has been imposed and the status quo will prevail until another agreement is reached.

“It’s been a difficult time for both parties,” he said. “The bottom line is we’re always willing to go to the table.”

He said legally, either party may request to formally go back into negotiations before the last offer ends. It is not known whether the union will seek to enter back into negotiations at this time, he said.

He said fact-finding measures and negotiations have been expensive, costing the county between $75,000 to $100,000 in fees. The tentative agreement would have saved the county $460,000, he said.

“Even with the current (LBFO), we’re still out of budget,” he said.