Stanislaus County SEIU Facts

Bargaining History Process

The parties have met in good faith at least 23 times, exchanging proposals on workplace issues, both economic and non-economic. The County and SEIU have successfully negotiated tentative agreements on many non-economic issues, however, the parties remain apart on key economic issues presenting a significant cost impact to the County. It has become apparent that the parties are unable to reach a tentative agreement on the remaining issues resulting in the County issuing its Last, Best and Final Offer (LBFO) on January 9, 2019. The LBFO is one party’s method of stating it is has no further movement on the outstanding contract issues. The County requested SEIU take the LBFO to a vote of its membership. On Sunday, January 13, 2019 SEIU notified the County that the LBFO has been rejected. The County’s Employer Employee Relations Ordinance outlines the process following an impasse declaration.

There are three key aspects to the County’s salary proposal: (i) base wage, (ii) equity adjustments, and (iii) no retroactivity.

Base wage increases are defined as an increase provided to the County’s workforce based on cost of living adjustments and the County’s ability to afford overall increases.

The County historically negotiates base wage increases consistently across bargaining units, and also applies those same base wage increases to unrepresented management and support staff. This is reflective of the County’s interest in treating its employees fairly and equitably, regardless of their bargaining unit. It also reflects the value that the County places on all of its employees, in good budget years and during periods of recession. This standard for equitable treatment of compensation has been shared with all County labor groups for decades and has been demonstrated in many agreements with SEIU and other County bargaining groups. Here, the County’s LBFO includes a proposal for a 3% wage increase each year of the contract. This offer is consistent with the agreements the County has reached with the vast majority of its other bargaining units.

However, the County recognizes that each bargaining group has its own unique issues to be addressed through negotiations. One way in which the County addresses some of these issues is through equity adjustments.

Equity adjustments are defined as base wage increases that affect a specific classification or classification series. Equity adjustments are considered based on a variety of factors including: market data based upon the County’s 8 comparable Counties, County’s ability to pay, recruitment and retention data.

The County does not agree to retroactive wage increases with any County bargaining unit, a practice going back more than 15 years. In the County’s view, tying the effective date of the first wage increases to ratification of the agreement by the bargaining unit and adoption by the Board of Supervisors helps keep both parties on track to reach an agreement prior to or near the contract expiration date. Additionally, retroactive increases are exceedingly difficult to administer with accuracy due to the significant complexity of County employee payroll and benefits. The County’s last attempt at retroactive increases (over 15 years ago) took large numbers of staff working months to validate the direct and indirect impacts to compensation, retirement and other benefits. Much of this work must be done manually to ensure accuracy in data reporting to meet audit standards for the County’s pension system as well as State and Federal programs. The County has been clear on its views with respect to retroactive pay since the start of bargaining with all labor groups; it was an issue discussed during the parties’ first meeting with SEIU in April 2018. As the parties continued discussions on economic proposals, the County reiterated its philosophy during bargaining sessions in May and June. At the table on June 21, 2018, the SEIU Chief Negotiator acknowledged that she understood the County was not offering retroactive pay. This reminder was also written into the County’s June 7th response to SEIU’s initial wage proposal, and then in every written wage proposal issued since. Further, the County was clear about its deadlines for ratification and adoption to ensure that SEIU-represented employees’ wages would take effect the first pay period of July 2018, specifically that it needed voting results by July 11, 2018 in order for the item to be considered by the Board of Supervisors at its July 17, 2018 meeting.

Despite its awareness of this timeline, SEIU submitted its first economic proposal at the parties’ fifth bargaining session on May 31, 2018 – nearly six weeks after the start of bargaining and less than a month before contract expiration. SEIU submitted data on equity adjustments on June 22, 2018 and offered its first proposal for equity adjustments for 13 classifications on June 25, 2018 - just 5 days from the contract expiration date. On December 13, 2018, nearly six months after contract expiration, SEIU requested an additional 18 equity studies from the County. These facts demonstrate SEIU was not prepared to complete negotiations prior to the June 30, 2018 contract expiration or to meet the deadlines to ensure Board adoption of the contract by July 17, 2018.

Contrary to the bargaining experience with SEIU, the County successfully negotiated timely contracts in 2018 using the same standards of compensation with the following bargaining units.

Should SEIU ratify an agreement the following chart indicates estimated dates ratification would need to be completed which would allow preparation for a recommendation to the BOS on the following Board Meeting Date:

Each BOS agenda must be posted to the public the Friday before the meeting date. The increases would be effective the first pay period following BOS approval.