Merced County employees try to rally support ahead of labor talks

Dozens of employees from the county’s largest labor union demonstrated on Tuesday both outside and inside the Board of Supervisors meeting, urging bigger pay increases than what they’ve been offered.

Labor talks broke down last year and an impasse was declared between the county and union, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, Local 2703. County employees have not had a raise in 2009, an independent fact-finding report concluded earlier this year.

About 1,000 Merced County employees are represented by AFSCME. Those employees have been working without a new contract for nearly a year. The county has been honoring the terms of the expired contract during that time, said Debbie Macias, the union’s business agent.

Both sides have returned to the bargaining table this year, hoping to hammer out terms on a new two-year contract.

The Board of the Supervisors made its first contract proposal earlier this year and received the union’s counterproposal Tuesday morning during a closed session meeting.

At the same time the board took its first look at the union’s proposal, nearly 50 county employees rallied in front of the county administration building. Many of those same employees later addressed the board during the public comment portion of the supervisors’ regular meeting.

Michelle Zamudio, who works for the county Human Services Agency, told the board that going without a cost-of-living raise for the last six years has been challenging and, at times, frustrating.

“It’s really disheartening with (the cost of) everything going up,” Zamudio told the board. “Please listen and please remember that you have small people you’re supposed to take care of and these small people take care of the smaller communities that we take care of and everybody that you guys are supposed to be keeping an eye on.”

The county’s opening proposal included a 1 percent base-wage increase during first year of the contract and a 2.5 percent increase during the second year. Additionally, the county is asking the employees to give up bargaining power on future changes to the the employees’ health care plan, officials on both sides confirmed.

The county would grant an increase of 0.5 percent across the board for the union if its members agree to give up special pay some employees receive for reading and writing in foreign languages, county spokesman Mike North said.

“Altogether, it amounts to a 4 percent increase over the two years,” he said.

The union’s proposal included a base-wage increase of 3.5 percent during the first year of the contract and 2.5 percent increase during the second year; a total raise of 6 percent over the next two years. The employees rejected the idea of surrendering bargaining power on any changes to their health care plan, Macias said.

The union’s counterproposal also included reinstating so-called “loyalty bonuses.” Reinstating the annual $750 bonus checks for senior employees was not part of the county’s proposal and that has become a major sticking point for the union, both sides agreed.

Those bonuses were scrapped in 2013.

“They actually sunset then as part of that contract and no employees are receiving them anymore,” North said. “They were originally part of an incentive package to retain employees, which the county was having a problem doing several years ago.”

The county doesn’t have that problem anymore, he said.

“Due to changes in the economy and other factors, we’re retaining employees and so (the bonuses) weren’t serving their intended purpose any longer,” North said.

A non-binding fact-finder report earlier this year recommended the Board of Supervisors retroactively restore the 2014 loyalty bonus and consider making it permanent.

County officials hope to settle on contract terms before the end of the fiscal year in late June.

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Merced County employees try to rally support ahead of labor talks."