County Workers Sing for a Pay Hike in 1-Day Walkout

In what could be a prelude to further job actions, nearly 1,000 workers in the county Children’s Services and Welfare departments staged a one-day walkout Tuesday to protest stalled contract talks and heavy caseloads.

The walkout was the first against the county since nearly two years ago when several thousand employees staged sickouts over a four-day period against libraries, welfare offices and a variety of other departments after contracts expired without a settlement.

Several hours after Tuesday’s walkout began, about 300 children’s services workers jammed the Board of Supervisors hearing room and, to the tune of “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” delivered a “singing telegram” to the four board members present:

“There’re no caseloads like our caseloads/The worst caseloads I know/Everything about them is oppressive/They’re the ones the county has allowed/No more can we get that happy feeling/When we are seeing that extra child . . . . “

The novel bargaining tactic was greeted by smiles and even applause by board members, but none of them responded directly to the employees’ subsequent invitation to meet with them individually.

Lauran Michael, a children’s services worker who led the audience in song, said that members of Service Employees International Union, Local 535, decided that the attention-grabber worked.

“We’ve come before and half the time they (the supervisors) nod off and chit-chat; this time we got the attention we wanted,” Michael said.

The union members said they were protesting a management offer of no pay hike until a 1% increase on July 1. County negotiators also have proposed some reductions in fringe benefits.

Similar terms have been proposed to other employee groups representing more than 70,000 county workers, union officials said. So far, the county has not reached agreement with any of the unions.

Lydia Baca, of Local 535, said children’s services workers are seeking at least a 10% pay hike to put their salaries in line with those of deputy probation officers, as well as lower caseloads and a slight improvement in fringe benefits.

Chief Administrative Officer Richard Dixon’s office estimated that 861 of 1,346 children’s services workers scheduled to work at 8 a.m. Tuesday were involved in the work stoppage.