Ventura County Workers Delay Strike Plans

Ventura County government workers agreed to postpone plans for a possible strike Tuesday and will try to resolve a stalemate with the Board of Supervisors over pay and benefits.

Leaders of a union representing 4,200 workers put off a possible Thursday strike for one week to allow negotiations to bridge the gap between the union’s demand for a 10% pay increase and the county’s offer of 3.5%.

The late afternoon announcement by Barry Hammitt, chief of Service Employees International Union Local 998, was made after the union was contacted by a state mediator, who said county officials had asked if both sides could return to the bargaining table. County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston had earlier asked the union to resume talks that stalled nearly two months ago.

“This is something that will be resolved, and we hope soon,” Johnston said.

After a closed-door session Tuesday, two supervisors said the board is ready to make a new offer to SEIU leaders.

“We spent a lot of time looking at numbers,” Supervisor Kathy Long said. “The board’s direction was to put something together so they at least get back to the table with us. The board sentiment was, truly, we don’t wish to have a strike.”

Board Chairman Frank Schillo agreed that supervisors are looking to reach agreement soon.

“If they come back to the table, I think we would have a good chance of getting something together,” Schillo said. “I think they should give it a chance before striking.”

Talks stalled May 6, and no formal sessions have been held since. Hammitt had warned that clerks, librarians, accountants and other non-public-safety workers--some of the lowest-paid in county government--would walk off the job Thursday if a labor agreement was not reached.

The union’s contract expires at midnight tonight.

Hammitt was not available for comment Tuesday. But if the union follows through and strikes next week if negotiations fail, it would be the first strike to hit county government in 13 years.

In 1988, workers staged rolling walkouts involving 1,500 employees over 10 days. Hammitt, who led that labor action, has pledged that this time, members all would strike at once for maximum effect.

Among the services likely to be affected would be libraries, welfare offices, planning, the clerk-recorder’s office and senior programs.

Johnston’s remarks came at the close of the Board of Supervisors’ 2001-02 budget deliberations. Supervisors approved a $1.1-billion spending plan for the coming fiscal year that reflects a 4% hike in revenues, but does not include money for salary and benefit increases.

County managers have been instructed to absorb the cost of any negotiated raises within their departments, a move that will probably force job losses. Managers said they will attempt to save money by cutting vacant positions.

On a split vote, supervisors turned down a request by Clerk-Recorder Richard Dean to add a No. 2 position to his office. Supervisor Steve Bennett said he questions whether Dean’s office has enough work to warrant a new $110,000-a-year position and whether it is appropriate to raise fees to pay for it.

Supported by Supervisors Judy Mikels and Long, the board voted 3 to 2 to delete Dean’s request. The board also delayed approval of a new foster home coordinator in the Human Services Agency and a $50,000 payout to the county’s Mental Health Board for administrative expenses.

Supervisors did agree to spend $25,000 on an X-ray machine in the county’s animal shelter to replace a broken one, a $25,000 study on a proposed assessment district in Oak View, and $78,000 to add a deputy public defender for juvenile cases.

The biggest financial question, however, is how much new labor contracts with the county’s two biggest unions will cost.

In addition to the wage increase, SEIU wants a cost-of-living adjustment on retirement checks for its members who do not already receive it.

Johnston has said that the cost of those wage demands alone is $10 million to $12 million, an amount he says the county cannot afford. But there is still room for negotiation, Johnston said Tuesday, even if it means cutting positions.

“It is doable, and we will be able to maintain services,” he said.

Johnston’s plea for resumed negotiations was also directed at a second union, one representing 750 sheriff’s deputies. The Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn. has been working without a contract for six months in its push for better pay and expanded retirement benefits.

Union officials have turned down a 4% pay hike offer, saying they want a pact that would guarantee that they are paid the same as their counterparts in neighboring counties. Deputies also want a new benefit that would allow a 50-year-old deputy with 25 years of service to retire with 75% of his or her pay.

The two sides have not met since the county filed a lawsuit last month challenging the deputies’ right to have the issues resolved through binding arbitration. In recent days, deputies have launched an aggressive campaign to promote their position in newspaper ads and on radio and cable TV spots.

Johnston pointedly remarked on the campaign, saying it would not help resolve differences. The only way to come to agreement is to resume talks, he said.

Glen Kitzmann, head of the deputies’ union, said he is willing to listen if Johnston is sincere.

“If Mr. Johnston calls and says, ‘We are willing to work something out,’ we’re there,” he said.

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