COUNTYWIDE : Firefighters Seek Board Intervention

The Ventura County firefighters union backed down Monday from plans to picket the County Government Center for higher wages after union officials spoke with members of the Board of Supervisors in search of a compromise over pay raises.

“We’ve been lobbying and trying to resolve this issue before both us and the county get polarized,” said Ken Maffei, president of the Ventura County Professional Firefighters’ Assn. “What we’re doing is giving it a couple more days, hoping that some of the board members will step in and try to resolve this situation.”

Supervisor Vicky Howard said the union has asked the supervisors to intercede in its negotiations with county labor relations officials. But she declined to comment on the board’s position. “I’m pretty sure there will be a closed session on negotiations” in today’s board meeting, Howard said.

Last week, the union rejected the county’s latest offer of a 3.1% pay raise over 18 months and declared an impasse in negotiations that have been going on since long before Feb. 1, when the union’s contract expired.

County Assistant Personnel Director Edward McLean has called the raise “an extremely fair offer” that keeps up with inflation.

But Maffei said Monday, after meeting with about one-third of the union’s rank and file, “my membership’s adamantly opposed to the contract offer, and they’re prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to convince the Board of Supervisors that this is an unacceptable offer.”