Strike Has Mixed Effect on Services

Striking workers blocked traffic at the Ventura County Government Center, shut down half of the county’s libraries and halted some citrus inspections Wednesday on the first day of a walkout over pension benefits.

While many departments functioned with little disruption, others felt the brunt of the first full strike in history by the county’s largest employees union, representing 4,200 workers.

County and union officials disagreed about the strike’s effect--and just how many workers walked off the job. Union officials estimated participation at 75%; the county said it was less than 50%.

“There may be somewhat of a slowdown,” said Barbara Journet, director of human resources. “But it has not crippled the organization.”

David Coventry, a picket captain for the Service Employees International Union Local 998, dismissed such reports.

“We’ve seen Brink’s trucks turn away, UPS, Pepsi,” he said. “Food isn’t getting dropped off. I think we’re pretty well shutting down the county.”

There was no end in sight to the standoff, as each side said it was up to the other to offer a compromise. Union chief Barry Hammitt said Wednesday the scheduled two-day strike could be extended through Friday, or even next week.

Union leaders refuse to sign a contract unless the county guarantees 3% cost-of-living adjustments to the pensions of workers hired since 1979.

The county has agreed to increase salaries an average of 10% over the next several years.

But county officials said the union’s pension demands would cost the county at least $108 million upfront and millions more in annual payments to maintain. The retirement boost being sought by sheriff’s deputies could drive the initial cost as high as $252 million, draining the retirement fund’s surplus, officials said.

Moreover, county leaders said they would not commit to any increases in retirement benefits until they conduct a study to determine the fiscal effect on the budget. Such a study could take several months.

But Hammitt said his members aren’t willing to postpone their demands unless they have a guarantee of some inflationary provision on their pensions.

“I haven’t heard anyone on the picket lines saying, ‘Please give us a crumb and we’ll go home,’ ” Hammitt said. “They’re in it now for the whole nine yards.”

To minimize the effect of the strike, Superior Court Judge Henry J. Walsh signed an order Wednesday directing 247 hospital workers, emergency dispatchers and jail cooks to report to their jobs.

Managers and department heads handled clerical duties and manned public counters throughout the day.

Assessor Dan Goodwin spent an hour answering phone calls in the morning. County Clerk Richard Dean said he got by with about half of his staff in the marriage license, elections and recorder offices.

Some offices were shut down by the strike and others were hampered but continued to provide services. Eight of 15 public libraries, an animal regulation office and a jobs center were closed.

For the first time in a decade, Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail inspected lemons and oranges.

Of McPhail’s 44-member staff, 39 walked off the job, slowing inspections of all the county’s citrus, produce and vegetation imports and exports.

“If this continues, there are going to be some very substantial losses,” McPhail said of his $1-billion industry. “If you can’t fill orders, the buyers will go someplace else.”

Pesticide certificates, farmers’ markets permits and moving van inspections also are expected to face delays.

At the Ventura County Medical Center’s gift shop, a hospital human resources manager fumbled with the cash register until a volunteer showed her how to work it.

Outside the E.P. Foster Library in Ventura, sunblock-slathered picketers trudged up and down Main Street while inside the woman who directs the county’s library system checked out books.

“I wouldn’t call it stressful,” said Starrett Kreissman, “but it’s different.”

Inside the Ventura County Medical Center, nurses and managers assumed some of the chores ordinarily done by the dozens of picketers who, at the building’s entrance, were frequently cheered by horn-tapping drivers on Telegraph Road in Ventura.

The center’s administrators said patient care would not suffer during the walkout.

“We’re just putting along,” said Dr. Sam Edwards, the hospital’s top administrator. “If you break your arm, we’ll take care of you.”

Others, however, weren’t sure that a trimmed-down staff could effectively see to patient needs.

Asked if she’d keep an ailing relative at the medical center, striking laboratory scientist Laura Whyte said she would move anyone whose condition was likely to change dramatically.

“They need to be attended to quickly,” she said.

Whyte said only a few of her 40 fellow lab workers were on the job. Strikers said trauma cases would be diverted to private hospitals. But Michael Bakst, director of Community Memorial Hospital two blocks down the street, said he had heard of no such plan. On Wednesday afternoon, Bakst said the hours-old strike had not affected his institution.

The strike threatens the county’s only nonprofit community blood provider, United Blood Services, which relies heavily on donations from county workers. In a statement issued Wednesday, community relations director Patty Hunt urged 90 county workers to keep their appointments to donate blood today.

Otherwise, Hunt said, “We do not see how the blood drive can continue successfully. We need the blood desperately.”

Of the county’s large departments, the one hit hardest was the Human Services Agency, which lost 60% of its 1,000-plus employees, Journet said. “They were still able to provide basic services to clients, such as Medi-Cal and food stamps.”

Still, Supervisor John K. Flynn said he was concerned services could quickly grind to a halt. He urged board Chairman Frank Schillo to call an emergency meeting and authorize negotiators to come up with a better offer.

Schillo declined after consulting with county attorneys.

“We’re not trying to string this thing out,” Schillo said.”You can’t speed up some things. Give us a break. After all, we’re dealing with the taxpayers’ money.”

Staff writers Matt Surman and Holly J. Wolcott contributed to this story.