Union Siblings,
Yesterday the executive board met for the 10th time with County officials to make progress in bargaining for a new contract.
The Union and County tentatively agreed to maintain the quarterly Union management council meetings that they initially wanted to eliminate.
The Union also countered with the following proposals:
• The County had previously rejected adding Cesar Chavez and Juneteenth as additional holidays observed. The Union countered today with adding Juneteenth to holidays observed as Juneteenth is a Federally recognized holiday.
• The Union proposed 20 hours of additional vacation time for workers with 10+ years and the ability to bank 400 hours which equals to 10 weeks.
• The Union rejected the counties proposal of eliminating the open window process.
• The Union initially held at 18% over three years with a $2000 ratification bonus. The County REJECTED the union hold at 18%. In the interest of membership consensus, the Union submitted a proposal of 17% over three years and maintained the ratification bonus. This is well above what other bargaining units have settled on within the County. By the end of the bargaining session the County countered with 10.25% over three years.
This is a HUGE insult to the eligibility workers that have been working tirelessly for the last four years to keep the residents of Orange County housed, fed and healthy.
Our next step as a membership is to take action to the streets! We will be starting pickets at ARC on Tuesday 9/19 during lunch from 11:30am-1:00pm and SARC on Wednesday 9/20 during lunch from 11:30am-1:00pm. If we are not at your worksite either of these days please join us anyway.
We need participation at our actions. We cannot fight without you. It is time for all of us to come together and send the message that we WILL fight for a fair contract and we deserve respect!
The bargaining team is only as strong as the membership standing behind us!
In Solidarity,
AFSCME Local 2076 Bargaining Team
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