County, Social Workers Reach Pact

A strike by 1,300 Los Angeles County children’s social workers was averted Monday when tentative agreement was reached on a new contract. But negotiations were continuing with half of the county’s work force, including nurses, who have threatened to walk off their jobs Oct. 12. The proposed agreement calls for children’s social workers to receive a nearly 13% pay raise over two years, increasing their top annual salary from $34,452 to $38,994 in July, 1991. It also requires the county to increase staffing to reduce the workloads of the employees who care for abused and neglected children.

The proposed two-year contract, hammered out during a 17-hour bargaining session over the weekend, must be approved by the Board of Supervisors. No date for that vote has been set.

The contract would be retroactive to Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, negotiations continued with unions representing about 40,000 employees--half of the county’s work force--whose contracts expired Sept. 30. They include clerks, librarians, welfare workers and nurses, who staged a three-day walk out in January, 1988.

Local 660, Service Employees International Union, which represents most of the employees working without a contract, including 5,000 nurses, has called for a strike on Oct. 12 if no agreement is reached.

Elliot Marcus, the county’s director of employee relations, and Sharon Grimpe, general manager of Local 660, expressed optimism Monday that an agreement can be reached.