Countywide : Mediator to Referee County Salary Talks
Orange County officials are at an impasse in salary negotiations with their largest employee union and have called in a state mediator.
The Orange County Employees Assn. and its nearly 11,000 members have been negotiating since April as the county tries to finalize its $3.6-billion budget plan.
The union’s existing contract was set to expire on Friday, but it has been extended for the mediation process.
Since last Friday, officials have reached agreements with both the 1,271-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the 123-member International Union of Operating Engineers.
Terms of those agreements call for wage increases of about 2.5%.
Judy Davis, the county’s chief of employee relations, said Wednesday that the impasse has caused no disruptions, except for some informational picketing by county Social Service Agency workers.
Citing the unresolved negotiations, both Davis and OCEA General Manager John H. Sawyer declined to discuss outstanding issues in the negotiations.
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