Lack of Judicial Action Leaves Vote on Union Contract in Limbo

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — With legal wrangling unresolved, Riverside County supervisors Tuesday temporarily tabled a vote on whether to unilaterally impose terms of a collective bargaining agreement opposed by Service Employees International Union, Local 721.

The Board of Supervisors was scheduled to debate whether the Department of Human Resources' "last, best and final offer" to SEIU should be put into effect -- without the union's affirmation -- but a court hearing on the collective bargaining unit's request for a preliminary injunction to forestall any county action was postponed to Friday at the Riverside Historic Courthouse.

The board decided to revisit the issue of imposition during its July 17 meeting.

After a public hearing on May 8 regarding the contract challenges, the SEIU turned to the California Public Employee Relations Board for legal intervention, and the PERB filed suit seeking the injunction.

During last month's hearing, attorney Ed Zappia, the county's "fact- finder," said the proposed three-year contract rejected by SEIU seeks a "reduction in the rate of (annual salary) increases (to net) a significant amount of savings" to the county.

Zappia said the composite value of the compact sought by the union would be $1.5 billion -- a major drain on the budget.

The attorney emphasized that the county made concessions during the 40- odd bargaining sessions that took place between the fall of 2016 and last August. According to Zappia, the Local 721 members, who number over 7,000 and include clerks, accountants, nurses, technicians and social workers, received 7- 8 percent straight salary increases every year of the last four-year collective bargaining agreement, which expired in November 2016.

Zappia said members received, on average, "a staggering 43 percent to 49 percent increases in compensation" over the four-year span.

He also pointed out that the average SEIU member's "compensation, benefits and perks" presently amount to over $106,000 per year, and that many in the senior salary grades are receiving pay and benefits that are "18.32 percent higher than (public employees) in the five surrounding counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura."

Under the last, best and final offer presented by the county, yearly raises would still be available, but would average about 2.71 percent per worker.

Art Pulasky of the California Labor Federation said the county's dealings with Local 721 had spawned 34 unfair labor practices allegations to the PERB, and SEIU negotiator Ryan Hudson contended that the county's team had engaged in "attacks on rank-and-file workers" and had created a "hostile" work environment for SEIU members generally.

The union has blasted the county for securing a $41 million contract with Netherlands-based professional services firm KPMG, which was hired to find ways of improving efficiencies and lowering costs throughout county government.

"The allocation to the KPMG contract is yet another example of wasteful spending and a lack of transparency and accountability to the public," according to an SEIU statement. It noted that in the two years since the KPMG contract was cinched, "the county has not reported any cost savings."

According to SEIU officials, the money that went for the KPMG audit and operational planning could have been dedicated to resizing salaries and benefits.

Tony Butka, appointed by the PERB to mediate negotiations, recommended that the county retroactively grant 2 percent across-the-board wage increases from Jan. 1 to June 30, and then another automatic 2 percent hike in the next fiscal year, along with a 1 percent bonus for county nurses, whom he said are difficult to recruit and have been using the county as a launch pad to career advancement elsewhere.

A unilateral imposition of provisions in the memorandum of understanding would not be a bar to further negotiations. The board declared an impasse with the Riverside Sheriffs' Association last October and imposed terms of a one-year contract after the 2,500-strong bargaining unit refused to accept the county's final offer.

— By City News Service / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone