County, Union Reach Settlement : Labor: The tentative agreement gives a small raise to those in 4,000-member association. A final vote is Jan. 27.

The 4,000-member Public Employees Assn. of Ventura County reached a tentative agreement with the county Friday, officials said.

County officials confirmed that the association negotiated a slight raise but declined to release details.

“It’s a very tough fiscal year for us,” said Richard Wittenberg, the county’s chief administrative officer, who described the negotiated increase as small.

“Raises at all are difficult for us during this very difficult recession,” he said.

Union President Barry Hammitt would not release contract information until members vote on the package, which he said increases salaries and benefits.

“It’s a reasonable settlement for the workers,” he said. “It’s one that workers can take a degree of comfort in.”

Union members will meet Wednesday to discuss the proposal, and ballots are to be turned in by 5 p.m. Jan. 27.

Every 1% raise for the association, which represents the largest group of county workers, will cost the county $1.2 million, Budget Manager Bert Bigler said.

The pay raise will come out of a $6.2-million contingency fund the County Board of Supervisors set aside for contract settlements, overruns or emergency expenditures, county officials said.

The association’s last pact, which expired Dec. 21, provided an average wage and benefit increase of 4% annually for three years.

The new agreement comes in the same week that supervisors ordered department heads to prepare 2% budget reductions for the next 18 months, bringing the total in budget cuts to 10% since last January.

Within the past year, supervisors have instituted a hiring freeze and a wage freeze for about 850 managers and supervisors, adopted a policy to grant no cost-of-living increases to unions and eliminated 80 positions, Bigler said. The county has about 6,400 employees.

The contract for the 150-member International Union of Operating Engineers also expired Dec. 21, but that contract was extended until August, said Ed McLean, assistant personnel director and chief negotiator for the county.

Although the engineers agreed to wait to discuss other bargaining issues, they negotiated a $32.50 increase in the county’s monthly contribution for health and dental benefits, bringing the county’s payment to $305.50 for each engineer, McLean said.

Meanwhile, the 360 members of the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Assn. have reached an impasse with the county over negotiating conditions. Their contract expires Feb. 1. The 400-member Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs Assn. contract will expire July 18, and negotiations are set to begin after April 15, McLean said.