Countywide : County Reaches Accord With Another Union

For the fourth day in a row, the county reached a tentative wage settlement Thursday with an employee union with which it has been tangled in tough labor negotiations for more than four months, county officials said.

The Service Employees International Union, which represents about 565 mechanics, landfill workers and heavy machinery operators, became the sixth union in the last two weeks to reach an agreement with the county.

As with the other contract settlements, officials would not reveal the terms of the agreement until it has been ratified by the union membership. County negotiator Dave Carlaw said the union has a membership meeting scheduled for next week.

Other agreements this week included the International Assn. of Firefighters, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the International Union of Operating Engineers.

The engineers ratified their contract Wednesday night. Other unions have membership meetings scheduled next week.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors gave final approval to identical contracts for the sheriff’s deputies and marshals that gives them a 14.25% raise over the next two years.

In all, the six unions that have settled labor negotiations represent more than 3,000 county employees.

The Orange County Employees Assn., with more than 6,500 members, remains in negotiations and is scheduled to meet with the county today for the third time this week.

The only other unresolved contract is with the union representing 260 attorneys in the offices of the public defender, the county counsel and the district attorney.