County's Second-Largest Union Prepares for One-Day Work Stoppage

Members of Riverside County's second-largest union will begin making preparations tomorrow for a one-day strike to protest the county's imposition of a contract that requires them to pay more into their own pension plans.

The nearly 6,000-strong Service Employees International Union Local 721 will stage a countywide one-day work stoppage on Tuesday, with all members participating, according to union officials.

SEIU representatives served the county Board of Supervisors notice Tuesday that there would be a walkout. Last week, the union indicated that only SEIU personnel at Riverside County Regional Medical Center would be involved, but members decided to expand the strike to include not only nurses, but also social workers, 911 dispatchers, accountants, clerks and other classified employees.

"This is a situation where we have no choice but to stand up and send a message," registered nurse Dolores Gonzalez told the board Tuesday. "We don't want to strike, but we will if we have to. We are ready to dialogue and bargain in good faith anytime."

County Executive Office spokesman Ray Smith said contingency plans are in place to deal with a walkout.

"The county is taking steps to ensure the safety and security of the public and our employees in the event of a strike ... making sure that essential services continue to be available for our residents," he said.

He did not specify what measures will be needed to deal with a disruption. But county Department of Human Resources chief Barbara Olivier told City News Service in November that her agency would fill any gaps by turning to the county's non-unionized temporary workforce and tapping its database of more than 12,000 resumes for possible fill-in candidates.

Union members tomorrow will be making picket signs, preparing charts and discussing strategies for next week's work stoppage, according to the SEIU. Preparations will be taking place at the union's Riverside headquarters, 4336 Market St., and its Palm Desert office, 74-399 Hwy. 111, Suite G.

More than 90 percent of SEIU Local 721's members voted in November to authorize labor actions "up to and including a strike" in protest of the board's decision to declare an impasse in negotiations over a new three-year collective bargaining agreement.

The board imposed contract terms and conditions after three dozen bargaining sessions over a year between SEIU negotiators and county representatives, which Olivier characterized as fruitless.

She told CNS virtually every time the county attempted to gain a concession on expenses, the union counter-offered with requests for salary increases.

With revenue down 25 percent over the last three years, a looming budget deficit of $80 million and an unfunded pension liability of $540 million, the county is tightening its purse strings.

As many as 600 employees' jobs could be on the chopping block to bring the budget into balance in 2012-13, according to the Executive Office.

The contract imposed on SEIU members mandated that they pay 3 percent of their pension costs in the current fiscal year, an additional 3 percent next year and 2 percent more in 2013-14. The change is expected to net $23 million in savings to the county, Olivier said.

For the past dozen years, the county has paid the entire amount of an employee's monthly contribution to the California Public Employees Retirement System.

Union members argue that while their health care premiums and general living expenses have risen, their wages and benefits have stagnated, making any increased cost burden imposed by their employer, the county, unfair and untenable.

The SEIU has filed multiple complaints against the county with the California Public Employment Relations Board, alleging unfair labor practices. Union officials charge the county has tried to engage in "surface bargaining" with separate units, specifically nurses, to the exclusion of other SEIU members.

They further allege the county has falsely claimed an inability to fund any SEIU salary and benefits advances despite investing $12 million to cover higher expenses tied to the county's new contract with the Deputy District Attorneys' Association.