Court Negotiations Update - Aug. 22, 2022

OCEA member,

2022 Negotiations has begun! The Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) for the Orange County Employees Association and the OC Superior Court expire on Oct. 27, 2022 and the process to negotiate a successor MOU is well underway. The 2022 Negotiations team met internally on Friday, August 19 to discuss the negotiations process, OCEA member priorities, and our plan to win a fair contract for all OCEA members and their families.

Your 2022 Negotiations team is:

• Charles Barfield – Lead Negotiator
• Tia Grasso – OCEA General Counsel
• Don Drozd – OCEA General Counsel
• Judy Bowling – OCEA President
• Tina Cano – LPS II (LJC)
• Jennifer Morgan – Court Clerk III (West)
• Robert Renison – Court Attendant (North)
• Maria Ruiz – Legal Processing Supervisor (Central)
• Maria Concepcion – Courtroom Operations Supervisor (West) 
• Aimee Skochko – Court Reporter (LJC)
• Tony Smith – Utility Worker/Driver (Central)
• Michael Stephens – Court Clerk II (LJC)
• Leanne Volkel – Court Clerk III (Harbor)

The following members will serve as team alternates:

• Joel Archer – Assoc. Building Maintenance Engineer (LJC)
• Mary Reynolds – LPS II (LJC)
• Kristi Johnson – Court Reporter (Central)

Negotiations planning began months ago. In early summer, OCEA emailed the 2022 Negotiations Survey, which asked OCEA members for their top priorities. On June 1, 2022, OCEA hosted a membership meeting that provided an overview of the Negotiations process. Additionally, your OCEA Stewards have been providing input to the Negotiations team and OCEA staff has been conducting research on market data and other economic factors that will impact our negotiations.

The bargaining team knows the top priority of OCEA members is securing a fair wage increase!  The OCEA negotiations team will base our wage proposal on inflationary pressures, the regional market, recruitment/retention needs, and other economic factors. We know that OCEA members are ready to fight for fair wages!

The next Negotiations related meeting will take place on Friday, August 26. At this meeting the OCEA Negotiations team will meet with Court management to review preliminary priorities. OCEA will send an email update to members who have opted-in to receive OCEA emails after each negotiations session. If you know someone who needs to opt-in to receive OCEA emails click here!

A union’s greatest strength is our strength in numbers. If you want to learn more about helping to secure a fair contract go to ocea.org/getinvolved and volunteer to be a worksite contact at your Justice Center!

In Solidarity,

Charles Barfield
OCEA General Manager

Publication Date: August 22, 2022