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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10131987 - T.5 THE BOARD OF. SUP.ERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA DATE: October 13, 1987 MATTER OF RECORD SUBJECT: Status of Labor Negotiations Henry Clarke, General Manager, Contra Costa County Employees Association, Local 1, presented the attached comments on the current status of labor negotiations and the impasse in negotiations with the Housing Authority of Contra Costa County. THIS IS A 'MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY NO BOARD ACTION TAKEN - STATEMENT BY HENRY L. CLARKE, GENERAL MANAGER CONTRA COSTA COUNTY EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, LOCAL #1 BEFORE THE CONTRA COSTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS October 13, 1987 Honorable Members of the Board: This past Saturday, October 10 , 1987 marked the 25 year anniversary of my hiring by the Contra Costa County Employees Association. At that time the Association had- 632 members. The County had approximately 4,800 employees. Today our Association' represents 1,750 of your 6 ,000 employees. In those 25 years the population of our County has increased at a much greater propor- tional rate than the County' s work force. The demands placed by the Federal and State governments, the private sector and our residents for services upon the County have exploded beyond belief. But you and your Administrator have recognized the worth of your employees,. our members, by heaping lavish praise upon them. I quote from your October 9 press release: "Our employees are extremely hard-working and have done an exceptionally fine job in keeping up with an- ever-increasing workload by increasing their personal productivity. It would be distressing to see ' them lose their wages at this time. " After reading your remarks, one of our members, a mental .. 2 health treatment specialist, observed that the Board and its Administrator apparently hav& a .love/hate relationship with us. They love us for handling ever-increasing workloads by managing to increase our productivity, but hate to compensate us adequate- ly for that effort. Yes, it is distressing to lose wages, not only at this time, .but any 'time. It is more distressing to do -it at this time because we have pointed out to you where the money is. So far you have demonstrated-,a willingness for your employees whom you so lavishly praised, to lose wages because you won' t besmirch your vestal virgin, also known as the contingency fund. With $400 ,000 ,000 of assets, it is ridiculous to claim that your bond rating depends on whether you have 7 or 10 million dollars in a contingency fund. If you are truly concerned about your employees whom you so lavishly praise, why did you take from the General Fund these past years $12 million for the County' s matching funds for build- ing the West County branch of the Martinez Hilton, also known as the County Jail. If the people want that jail, they can vote a bond issue for that purpose. If you are distressed by -the fact that employees are going to lose their wages over the issue of fair treatment, why don' t you take the position that you will have correctional officers supervising jail inmates at an annual savings of over $1 million as - starters? If you truly respect all County employees and are doing everything you can to provide an adequate salary increase, why do you refuse to approve the Housing Authority' s salary increases 3 which derive not from the County' s General Fund but are provided for by the Federal Government? I can assure you that you, through your October 9 press release, need not express your concern about the detrimental effect on employees who choose to participate in a work action. Our Association is a democratic organization that held many meet- ings which were fully publicized, with complete participation by our members in the decision making process that has led us here today. We are not impressed by the County' s press release. It' s standard operating procedure. . In .closing, let me remind you of the leadership and respon- sible behavior of the organization I am honored to represent. Over the past• 25 years our organization has worked with the County Supervisors to make our County a better place to live and to have a government which is truly progressive and serves the public and its employees well. As you well know, we had the foresight five years ago to propose that you adopt a property .tax override in order to avoid future fiscal shortfalls . You had the power and authority to do % so. You failed to do so. When an administrator, not rank and file employees, made a $10 million error that affected the Health Services Department, we worked with you to overcome that deficit. -We all went without a pay raise for . 12 months. We were the leading force in urging the penny-a-month coun- ty health plan. After years of urging, you finally implemented our proposal which resulted in the Health Services Department be- ing in the "black" last year. In the past and currently, we have advocated for the cre- ation of the Correctional Officer classification, which I repeat, can save you over a million dollars a year in current dollars. The jury, you, are still out on that one, or are you? Let me say to you, the 'Sheriff and his merry men and women have done a good job in confusing the issue by saying our only interest in this matter is more dues paying members; also, when we represent the Correctional Officers, we will bring their salaries up to Deputy Sheriffs, so there will be no savings to the County. Well, let me. repeat, the - issue is not dues paying members, but the bleeding of the general fund at the expense of :your employees about whom. you are so concerned and service to the public. Because of your unwillingness to address our concerns- in a meaningful way, we' re here today. The personal disruption and ensuing trauma will not be easily corrected. The healing process can be expedited only by you. On behalf of your employees, I call upon you to put your words of praise into action. Instruct your -negotiators to go back to the bargaining table and provide them with the instru- ments to effect an honorable reconciliation.