Union Workers Rally at Meeting

The noise of the rally thundered outside the Board of Supervisors meeting as union leaders shouted into bullhorns: “It’s our turn!”

Hundreds of Ventura County employees turned out for the morning rally in the County Government Center lobby.

They wore union T-shirts and wielded picket signs. And they made it clear they were ready for the strike that was called hours later.

“What do you want? We want COLA!” they chanted--referring to a cost-of-living adjustment they want tied to retirement benefits.

As emotions grew, private security guards kept most of the demonstrators outside the board meeting that was in progress.

Guards and union members argued, and there were some shoving incidents. Some workers began to chant, “Let us in!” At various times, workers erupted in loud boos or cheers.

“Will they even let their own employees in?” asked an incredulous Betty Trist, a union staff member. “They let all the managers in.”

While declaring their readiness to strike, many of those who turned out for the demonstration said it will be difficult for them to go without pay for even a short time.

But the time for action had come, some said.

“I don’t want to wait until I’m old and gray to figure out how I’m going to afford to eat,” said Leza Guzman, a Human Services Agency employee.

Terri Lucero, another Human Services worker, was one of several in the crowd who said that managers had attempted to deter them from attending the rally by threatening to deny them vacation time.

Figuring Out a Way to Survive Strike

She has to choose which bills to pay, she lives with her parents, and all the money from her Thursday paycheck was already gone Tuesday, Lucero said.

But she vowed to “figure out a way” to survive when the strike begins today.

“All I have is myself to take care of me and my son,” she said.

Lucero said that the Oxnard Human Services Agency office where she works was virtually closed Tuesday morning because of the rally, and that most of her fellow clerical workers were there with her.

The union’s focus on improved pension benefits was shared by many others in the crowd.

Dawn Russell, a social worker and single mother, said she worries about her retirement under the current system, and at the prospect of being 75 and impoverished.

“I don’t want to be poor when I’m old,” she said.

The several hundred workers at the rally marked the largest turnout for the Service Employees International Union Local 998 that union leaders could recall.

“We’ve got a lot of momentum up there,”’ said the union’s deputy director, Ellyn Dembowski. “We wanted them to know how strongly people feel.”

The SEIU, the county’s largest union, representing 4,200 of the county’s 7,500 government workers, has been pushing for a multimillion-dollar pension plan increase as well as an overall 10% raise for workers.

Board’s Priorities Draw Criticism

While most workers were held outside the boardroom, some made it inside.

One of those, Aneesah Hasan, a civilian Sheriff’s Department employee, told the board it has placed too low a priority on employee welfare.

“The money is not put in your trust to spend at will or to bail yourselves out after you’ve made a bad decision,” she said.

“You refuse to give us the retirement benefits we need badly. I am appalled.”