OCEA members,
OCEA members from all six (6) of our bargaining units have voted to ratify the Tentative Agreement with the County. Voting closed at noon Thursday and the Executive Committee of the OCEA Board of Directors certified the results this morning, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.
The ratified agreement will next go to the Board of Supervisors for adoption on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Once adopted, your 3% base-building wage increase will be reflected in your paycheck starting Sept. 24.
What You Ratified
- 14 month term through Aug. 31, 2027
- 3% in base-building wages
- Two (2) new paid holidays, Farmworkers Day and Juneteenth
- Ten (10) additional hours of Personal Business Leave
- Parity protection
- Every County takeaway withdrawn
Review the full deal points here.
Thank You to Your Negotiations Team
Your negotiations team sat across the table from the County for more than four months while the County refused to move off a 0% general wage increase and a list of takeaways. Your team refused to accept it. They are your co-workers. They took time away from their own jobs, their own responsibilities, and their own families to fight for yours. Thank you to every member of the 2026 OCEA County Negotiations Team.
This Bridge Does Not End the Fight
This bridge agreement runs through Aug. 31, 2027. The 3% general wage increase puts real money in your paycheck now, while we continue our fight for what you deserve. Because this is a short term contract, your negotiations team will return to the table in early 2027. We are headed right back into the fight for you and your families.
Nearly 900 OCEA members packed the membership meetings on Jul. 30, and hundreds of you were ready to rally on Aug. 25. That pressure, paired with our efforts at the table, brought the County CEO and Chief Human Resource Officer to the bargaining table in person and moved the County off 0% in wages, which led the County to propose a full authority bridge agreement that included a general wage increase and parity protection.
Between now and 2027, we will continue to build. Talk to your co-workers about what happened this summer. Sign up to be a steward or a workplace leader. The more cohesive we are when we return to the table, the stronger we will be.
Get involved at ocea.org/getinvolved.
We stood together and moved the County. Stay ready to do it again.
In Solidarity,
OCEA
