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The Court is trying to mislead Kern Superior Court workers AGAIN! On January 18, Court negotiators asked our Bargaining Team to call off our strike and return to negotiations. They indicated that they had a better offer. We did not call on the Court to return to negotiations – we were busy planning our strike.
So, what did the Court really have in mind? They did present a DIFFERENT offer, but certainly not at BETTER offer.
Here’s the difference:
• The Court asked for the addition of a 4th year of the contract.
• The Court's offer includes no guarantee that workers will receive what the Court is allocated by the state for employee wages. After the first year of the contract, it offers a straight three years of substandard, below cost-of-living raises.
• The Court made no movement on its bilingual pay offer.
• The Court’s offer restricts shop stewards to make them ineffective in representing workers.
When we returned to the Bargaining Table at the Court’s request, we made concessions to try to reach an agreement.
Our Bargaining Team moved on all issues. Here’s what we did:
• Made a proposal to accomplish a four-year contract. We proposed a 4.5% pay increase in the first year, with a percentage equal to SAL with a minimum of 3.5% in years two, three and four.
• Agreed to delay implementation of 100% Court-paid insurance premiums by 3 months.
• Agreed to delay implementation of Wellness Program by 6 months.
• Agreed to delay implementation of all benefits (except wages) to first pay period AFTER ratification.
• Agreed to limit shop steward representation time to 24 hours.
The ONLY move the Court made that would have benefited employees even slightly was to increase their pay increase offer for years two, three and four to 3 percent instead of 2.5 percent. But even that would have locked in a substandard, lower than cost-of-living increase, and added the fourth year of the contract when we should be bargaining a new contract based on conditions at that time.
In total frustration and disappointment, our Bargaining Team for the first time issued a last, best and final offer and halted negotiations. We are still awaiting the Court’s response.
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On the State Level
SEIU California has put the State Administrator of the Court on notice that SEIU California will give Kern County Court workers their full support due to the Kern Court providing inaccurate information and deliberately trying to misclassify and hide funds from our Bargaining Team. SEIU California has asked our State legislators to look into the AOC’s lack of oversight of the Kern Court and its participation in bad-faith bargaining in Kern County. We will have more information as it develops.
Family Law Division, Metro Court,
1215 Truxtun Avenue
Don’t forget
Purple Thursdays,
Black Fridays and
Sad Tuesdays.
Stand United!
Hickael Gonzalez, Revenue Recovery, 1215 Truxtun |