Negotiations Update: Sept. 26, 2017
Dear OCEA member,
Your OCEA bargaining team met yesterday with the Court for our fifth bargaining session. The session went all day and covered issues important to you and your family.
In the last update we communicated that some movement had been made on smaller non-economic items. Some members asked why we are bargaining over anything other than wages. To be clear, wages are the most important part of the negotiations. But your bargaining team has a responsibility to address other issues that span the entire contract. The Court has made proposals related to non-salary items we MUST respond to. Additionally, there are other non-salary related items that have been identified by OCEA members as being very important. We continue to address those items but, make no mistake, the bargaining team also continues to emphasize our primary goal: To achieve the fair wage increases you and your family deserve.
Yesterday, your co-workers on the bargaining team directly addressed the Court about how wage stagnation has impacted all Court workers.
Aimee Skochko and Adriana Araneta, OC Superior Court Reporters and OCEA Stewards, spoke about the poor treatment of Court Reporters and the overall culture of the Court. They explained how the decision to reduce hours has created an exodus of Court Reporters to full-time positions in neighboring counties. Job openings in other parts of the state have compounded recruitment and retention problems severely depleting the morale of the remaining Court reporters.
The result is the public’s access to justice in Orange County is being further and further reduced. Aimee recounted several instances from actual transcripts where Court proceedings had to be stopped and members of the public had to come back the following day solely because of the Court’s anti-reporter policies. And while Aimee and Adriana spoke primarily about the Court Reporter classification, they told the court that low morale plagues every classification in every Justice Center. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! WE WANT TO BE COMPENSATED AND TREATED FAIRLY!!!
OCEA Board member Robert Hendricks reviewed examples of the Court’s inaction regarding funding issues. He passionately and articulately described how Court executives ignored repeated warnings related to the budget from OCEA and others, refused OCEA offers for assistance in the state capitol, and now blames Sacramento for its budget challenges. What is worse, Robert concluded, is the Court trying to place the burden for its own shortcomings on the backs of employees.
The Court representatives did not directly respond to these messages, but the impact was clear as your co-workers spoke on your behalf.
The overall takeaway from today is that a significant gap still remains between the parties. There was some positive movement on wages, and the parties added an additional negotiations session next week to see if we can continue to make headway. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 5. It is our hope that we will be able to continue making progress on economic proposals. However, we also continue to prepare in the event that we are not able to make enough movement on the items that are most important to you. Your Stewards met today (Sept. 26) to discuss what actions we will need to take together to make sure the Court treats all of its workers with fairness and respect.
In Solidarity,
Bridgette Washington
OCEA Senior Labor Relations Representative
Publication Date: September 26, 2017