Workers Brace for Job Action

With fractious ongoing labor negotiations and the lingering possibility of a strike within days, longtime Ventura County employees Bob and Margaret Lopez sat in a break room at the Government Center on Tuesday and worried aloud.

Walking off the job is a frightening thought. The couple have a $1,300-a-month mortgage. A daughter is starting college in the fall. And then there are the credit card bills.

But if the Board of Supervisors rejects the union’s request for a 10% pay hike, which employees argue would bring their salaries in line with their counterparts in neighboring counties, the couple say they are certain about their next move.

“I have no problem whatsoever striking,” said Bob Lopez, a 23-year employee in the accounting division of the Public Works Department. Lopez, 53, said he earns about 5% to 10% less than colleagues elsewhere.

Although his wife, Margaret, is a nonunion employee, she is prepared to show her support.

“I will not cross the picket line,” said Margaret Lopez, 43. “I’ll take my 24 years and go somewhere else where the pay is better if I have to.”

About 4,200 county clerks, receptionists, accountants and other support services employees are awaiting the results of a special mediation session scheduled for July 5. At the request of a state mediator, the Service Employees International Union Local 998 has agreed to delay any strike action until after that meeting.

The key conflict is the dispute over pay, with the county offering 3.5%--about a third of what the union is seeking.

“If you’re making under $35,000 a year, 3% isn’t going to do a whole lot for you,” said George Lopez, 43, no relation to Bob or Margaret Lopez, who works in the assessor’s office. “Three percent still doesn’t bring you up to parity.”

A strike would mean sacrifices for everyone, but George Lopez said county workers have little choice. “The cost of living here is high. The rents are high, the gas, everything. It just kills us.”

But county officials contend that there isn’t enough money to cover SEIU’s demands, noting they are also facing tough negotiations from another major employee group--the sheriff’s deputies union. Deputies are asking for a deal that would allow retirement at age 50 with their pay equal to about 75% of their current salary.

At the same time, county employees are demanding that annual cost-of-living increases be added to the retirement paychecks of all employees who do not now qualify for the perk.

The combined cost of the retirement enhancements would run the county about $23 million, officials said.

Union employees dismissed arguments that the county cannot afford the salary and retirement increases, noting that managers were granted a 4% pay raise earlier this year.

“Is that fair?” Margaret Lopez asked. “And is it fair that the Board of Supervisors gets raises whenever the judges do, even when times are hard. Is that fair? I don’t think so. Fairness starts at home.”

Strike talk has become a constant at the Government Center, with employees weighing the pros and cons in the lunchrooms and hallways. Several workers said Tuesday they are prepared to strike.

Richard Paschal, a draftsman in the Public Works Department, said his salary is about 15% below that of his colleagues in surrounding counties. Paschal also complained that county sheriff’s deputies always seem to fare better than other government workers.

“I agree they need the money,” he said. “But it needs to be spread around. A [3.5%] raise wouldn’t even cover my energy bill.”

Several supervisors sympathized with their workers, but wondered where the money would come from to meet their demands. Lawrence Matheney, assistant treasurer, said his employees are not highly paid--earning between $10 and $16 an hour--and that some struggle to support their families.

And what will it mean for him if his employees do strike?

“I’ll be spending a lot of time at the front counter,” he said.