Santa Clara County employees’ union ends mediation over wage dispute

After weeks of mediation, SEIU says they have ended the voluntary talks, citing an offer to management employees they argue is more generous. 

After weeks of mediation, the union representing 12,000 Santa Clara County employees says they have ended the voluntary talks, citing an offer to management employees they argue is more generous.

Service Employees International Union Local 521 entered into mediation with the county on Oct. 31, following a rolling strike that took place for ten days in October.

In a letter to the county’s chief operating officer Miguel Marquez, the union’s bargaining committee said they were disappointed by the lack of movement in the county’s position and that a recent offer to county management employees undercuts the argument that the county can’t afford to give SEIU workers bigger raises.

“For months this committee has been told that our proposals were fiscally irresponsible, that they would put the county ‘in the red,’” the committee wrote in the letter. “It was only a few days ago that we learned that money was in fact no object for Santa Clara County, at least when it came to compensation for management employees.”

SEIU represents almost half of the county’s workforce, including cooks, janitors, clerical staff, social workers, engineers and psychologists.

The union began a series of walkouts on Oct. 2 that targeted different departments, based on objections to changes in the Department of Family and Children’s Services, the relocation of a Family Resource Center in East San Jose, and safety issues related to housing children who have been removed from their homes.

The union is also pushing for higher wage increases, which it argues would address a crucial staffing shortage.

County management has argued that the economy is already starting to slow down and the county won’t see the revenue growth needed to give SEIU members the raises they are demanding.

In a press release late Thursday, chapter president Janet Diaz, a patient business services clerk at Valley Medical Center, said the union will continue negotiating with the county and “commit to refrain from calling a strike” before January 10.

The county’s last offer to SEIU employees offered 3 percent raises each year over five years, or a total of 15 percent, plus additional wage increases for certain positions.

An offer to the County Employees Management Association on Dec. 4 also gives a 3 percent raise over five years, and cuts management employees’ pension contribution by 3 percent in the first year of the contract and 2 percent in the second year.

In the press release, SEIU characterized the reduction in pension contributions as a virtual wage increase and said it’s unfair for the county to offer the county’s highest paid employees a better deal.

“Denying equity to the SEIU workers will only exacerbate the economic divide that already exists in our community,” said Riko Mendez, the union’s CEO, in the statement.

County CEO Jeff Smith said it’s not accurate to equate a decrease in pension obligations to raises, noting that management employees pay significantly more of their salary toward pension costs.

The county requires employees to contribute to a certain percentage of their salary toward pension costs. SEIU employees pay about 3 percent of their salary toward pensions and management employees pay about 16 percent, although the percentage varies based on when an employee was hired.

Cutting an employee’s pension contribution increases take-home pay, and the county is required to pick up the difference.

The higher pension contribution “causes major problems with the ability to attract new employees and promote employees (to management),” Smith said.

Smith said he believes the county will eventually reach a resolution with employees.

“I am disappointed in their approach, but I’m not surprised,” said Smith. “We’ll just keep discussing and stay at the table.”

An SEIU spokesman didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Contact Thy Vo at 408-200-1055 or tvo@bayareanewsgroup.com.