LAKE COUNTY – Following lengthy negotiations that were sometimes far from smooth, the county and the Lake County Employee's Association (LCEA) negotiation team completed negotiations and signed new memoranda of understanding late last month.
On Jan. 29, the LCEA negotiation team signed the documents on behalf of units 3, 4 and 5, union officials reported.
“LCEA looks forward to working together in collaboration with the Board of Supervisors for the betterment of the community and county employees that serve the community,” said Mary Ella Davidson, LCEA's president.
“Working with these units has been a long, laborious process,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Anthony Farrington. “I think we're all glad we finally reached a conclusion.”
The new contract extends through June 30, 2011. If a new agreement isn't reached for the period starting July 1, 2011, the contract would remain in effect until superseded by a new document.
Also included in the contract is a provision for several personal leave days for employees in-lieu of a cost-of-living increase. Special Districts Utility Workers l/ll/lll classifications addressing their state licensing requirements will receive a 2.5-percent salary adjustment, which the union said was “long overdue.”
Also on Jan. 29, the LCEA retracted charges it had filed against the county with the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) alleging unfair negotiations.
The negotiations process began in the early part of 2008 for period starting July 1, 2008, the union said. LCEA members ratified two Lake County offers. However, the two offers either weren't implemented or had language changes made to them that led to the PERB complaints.
Union members credited Mike Minton, LCEA's business representative from Operating Engineers Union Local #3, with helping to bring the negotiations process to a successful conclusion.
Minton told Lake County News that the process wasn't easy, and was filled with frustration, as there were proposals, counter proposals, approvals and then changes to tentative contracts after they had been approved by the Board of Supervisors and the union membership.
He said the PERB complaint resulted after the supervisors gave the union their last and final offer, which included a 2-percent pay raise, which he said the county decided not to implement after the union membership accepted it.
A few months later, they reached another agreement in which employees would get two personal leave days in lieu of a raise until a new contract was reached, but the language later was changed to two leave days in exchange for the raise, with no deadline, he said.
Late last year, Minton said he met with county representatives and finally came to the final agreements that led to the January signing.
He attributed many of the issues to a “a real big mix up in communication,” with neither side getting the exact proposal or intent of the other.
“I don't know what happened exactly,” he said, adding, “I do know that the county wanted to make amends,” and have the problems stop and the issues be resolved.
Farrington said the county's goal was to reach a conclusion where, at least in this point in time, layoffs weren't involved.
However, at a recent board meeting supervisors and county administrative staff concluded that if the economy doesn't turn around immediately, layoffs and service cutbacks may be a part of the upcoming fiscal year's budget.
The negotiations' successful conclusion was made possible in part, Farrington said, because of the union's “willingness to not push for economic items.”
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said the county was appreciative of LCEA's understanding of the county's financial limitations.
“The county is very fortunate to have a great team of hard working employees and we are very appreciative of all they do for our county government and for the citizens of Lake County,” Cox said.
The LCEA negotiation team said it recognized and appreciated the Board of Supervisors and it negotiation team for providing a one-time contracted stipend of $700.
That stipend, which the board approved late last year, was the result of the county's insurance carrier not charging health premiums in November and December.
Union representatives said the stipend will no doubt help the local economy when county employees shop locally.
Although Minton has been critical of the county and the negotiation process, he gave them credit for their efforts to keep their staff employed.
Management has the right to establish the size of its workforce, and once it decides to make cuts it has to let the union know and sit down with the bargaining unit, Minton said.
The county, he said, has “managed to do something that most other employers haven't been able to do,” which is salvage jobs.
He credited county Human Resources Director Kathy Ferguson with coming up with a plan to reclassify employees to place them in other positions, which sometimes results in salary and benefit increases for the staffers.
Minton said the union's job, ultimately, is to save jobs for its members, and although he's had his struggles with the county, he applauded them for their efforts toward that same goal.
There will be layoffs, he said, but it won't be as bad as it has been in other locations.
“They're doing the right thing,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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