County and Union Agreement Averts Labor Strike

Bay City News Service

Members of the Sonoma County's largest employees union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the county, officials said Friday.

About 1,200 of the 1,800 Sonoma County workers who are in the
Service Employees International Union Local 1021 will start voting on the
tentative pact Tuesday, Lathe Gill, an area director of the SEIU 1021 said
Friday.

The tentative agreement came after a 17-hour negotiation session Wednesday that ended after midnight Thursday.

The union represents employees from virtually every county department exclusive of law enforcement agencies, Sonoma County governmental
affairs director Jim Leddy said.

Leddy said the contract, if ratified by the union, will be in effect from March 18, 2013, through Oct. 31, 2015. He said the pact accommodates the interests of both the county and the SEIU.

It calls for a three-percent reduction in total compensation costs, but provides the union employees the first cost of living raise in five years, Leddy said. The agreement also is expected to reduce the county's future pension costs, Leddy said.

On its website, the SEIU Local 1021 said the proposed agreement retains a low-deductible health plan, converts 17 hours of floating holidays to vacation, provides at least $1,915 in one-time money for each worker, includes a three-percent cost of living adjustment over the term of the contract and gives health care relief for families.

The tentative agreement comes two months after union members rejected a management proposal and before a proposed unfair labor practice strike at worksites throughout the county on Feb. 28, according to the union's website.

SEIU 1021 represents more than 54,000 employees in local government, nonprofit agencies, health care programs and schools in Northern California.

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