OCEA members,
Your OCEA negotiations team met with the County for our fourth negotiations session Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Three notable events took place at the session: further debate related to the County’s financial condition, receipt of the County’s second proposal, and OCEA’s response to the County’s position. Our position is clear—it’s not a matter of IF the County has the funds, it’s a matter of where the County chooses to spend them. So far, they are showing that they prioritize everything other than the people doing the actual work and keeping County services running.
As you may recall, at our last session, the County presented a rebuttal to the findings of the financial analysis completed by OCEA’s retained independent forensic auditor, Harvey M. Rose, LLP (HMR). The County’s rebuttal attempted to dismiss the findings of the financial analysis with unsupported conclusions and non-contextual statements. OCEA immediately submitted the County’s rebuttal to HMR for their response. Unsurprisingly, HMR confirmed OCEA’s position related to the County’s financial condition and highlighted millions of dollars of unrestricted funds that can be used for labor costs.
In short, our negotiations team found the solution to the County’s alleged financial woes, by identifying money that can be used for labor. This additional analysis was submitted to the County’s representatives at the table and emailed to County executives and the Board of Supervisors.
We also received the County’s second proposal, which was consistent with its’ ongoing austerity narrative. The County’s proposal was insulting and unacceptable. It was short on substantive movement, long on rejections, and devoid of any economic improvements, including wages.
Despite the collective frustration, your OCEA negotiations team is determined to demonstrate our good faith efforts to reach an agreement by responding to the County with our third proposal. This proposal addressed several non-economic items but held our position on our economic demands—because we maintain the County has the funding for economic improvements, and we are not going to negotiate against ourselves.
Between the lack of progress and the County’s lack of preparedness, our chief spokesperson, OCEA Operations Manager Veronica Rodarte, characterized the session as “borderline bad faith bargaining.” OCEA’s expectation that the County make a sincere effort to reach an agreement on wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment isn’t just reasonable; it’s the law.
Your negotiations team is holding the line.
YOU do the work that keeps the County running. YOU have had to suffer larger workloads while the County saves costs by eliminating positions. YOU have done YOUR part and now it’s time for the County to do THEIRS.
To join the fight for a fair contract, click here.
Here is what comes next:
- Negotiations Session 5 | Wed., July 15
- Negotiations Session 6 | Wed., July 29
In Solidarity,
Charles Barfield
OCEA General Manager
