Union Gets Set for Strike Vote in Early June

Upset by what they see as the county’s refusal to negotiate, leaders of Ventura County government workers’ biggest union have set a strike vote for the first week in June.

For their part, county officials have directed managers to crack down on employees using sick time, vacation days or extended lunch hours to participate in union rallies or job actions.

“While employees have a right to do these sorts of things, we don’t have to finance them,” said Barbara Journet, the county’s human resources director.

At issue is Service Employees International Union’s demand for salaries comparable to those in 13 other counties and cities--a pay package that county officials have rejected as too costly. Contract talks between the union and the county have been stalled since May 6.

Casting ballots by mail and at 12 boxes to be set up at county work sites, workers will be asked to allow union leaders to call a strike if they conclude that all other remedies have been exhausted.

“It’s my belief that management wants to see if we’re willing to strike,” said Keith Filegar, president of the SEIU’s Local 998. The county’s only strike occurred in 1987, two years after the California Supreme Court ruled that county workers have a right to walk out.

Filegar said his union is stocking a food bank for idled members. Leaders have also set up a hardship fund and arranged presentations for union members seeking help with rent or mortgage payments and other expenses.

“There will be additional actions we take between now and the contract’s expiration on June 28,” he said.

In the meantime, county officials are preparing to seek an injunction that would keep crucial workers on the job.

“We’ve asked our managers to identify positions critical to health, safety and welfare,” Journet said. Those would include nursing jobs at Ventura County Medical Center and some positions at the County Jail and in other departments, she said.

In a May 10 memo to county department heads, Journet warned that some workers would ask for additional time off to attend a 90-minute lunchtime rally at the Ventura County Government Center five days later.

“Please inform your managers that time off beyond what an employee usually takes for the lunch period should not be granted,” she wrote. “Also, employees who take time off without permission are subject to leave without pay and discipline.”

Journet also warned that employees claiming sick time must provide a doctor’s note.

She said Monday that no disciplinary actions have been taken as a result of her memo.

The union represents about 4,200 accountants, engineers, planners, nurses, secretaries and others in the county’s 7,000-member labor force.

Sheriff’s deputies, firefighters, public defenders and prosecutors are represented by other unions, which have successfully fought to tie salaries to those in Ventura County’s six largest cities and to Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.

A union survey shows Ventura County salaries lagging averages elsewhere by a range of 2% for accountants to 27% for librarians. Making up the difference would cost $12 million, which the county cannot afford, officials say.

“We are committed to doing the best we can,” county Chief Executive Johnny Johnston said recently. “But I have to consider the financial health of the entire county.”

Union leaders are skeptical, contending that the county consistently underestimates the amount it can devote to employee compensation.

Barry Hammitt, the union’s executive director, said in an interview that the county’s estimate of $12 million for pay parity is $4 million to $5 million too high.