Napa County and the majority of its workers will remain at an impasse for at least a month. County negotiators and representatives of about 1,000 out of 1,300 county workers, Service Employee International Union 1021, aren’t scheduled to meet with a state mediator until July 31. Both sides announced an impasse on June 27. As soon as the negotiators can sit down at the table, union leaders hope to address the three stickiest points of debate: A cost of living increase for county workers, a safety retirement package for probation officers and the term of the next contract.
Carlos Rivera, the union's boss, said the most important item on the agenda might be the term of the contract. The county wants a four-year contract and the union wants to limit it to three. “Right now the term of the contract is a big deal,” he said. A shorter contract means the union will not have to wait as long to negotiate for things like better cost of living adjustments or other terms.
County CEO Nancy Watt has said the county offered up to a 5 percent increase in salary for a cost of living adjustment, after a 2007 adjustment of 3.2 percent. At least for 2007, the union wants a 4.2 percent adjustment that takes place later in the fiscal year.
As for a safety retirement for probation officers, the county said it proposed a 5 percent premium pay for probation officers and juvenile hall counselors, with an aim to reopen the issue of the amount of premium pay in 2008. The union wants that reopening, plus a 10 percent premium pay for those job classes.
Until a new contract is negotiated, county spokeswoman Elizabeth Emmett said, SEIU workers would remain under the terms of their previous contract.
“We've taken no action to say that the current contract isn't in place,” Emmett said.
(napavalleyregister.com)
