Negotiations Update: Nov. 3

OCEA member,

For two months the OCEA Bargaining team has met with Court management eleven times to negotiate a contract for OCEA members. At each of these meetings your bargaining team has passionately communicated the position of OCEA members throughout the Court system. It is time to be treated fairly, and it is time for a meaningful wage enhancement!

On Thursday, the bargaining team convened again with the Court management. At that meeting OCEA and the Court traded several conceptual frameworks that sought to bridge the gap on wages. After several hours of bargaining and exchanging concepts, it was clear that we still had significant distance as it relates to wages. It was at this point that both parties agreed it would be helpful to bring in a mediator from the State Mediation and Conciliation Services (SMCS). The purpose of this step is to bring in a third party who might be able to bring both sides to an agreement. We will notify everyone as soon as a date is set.

In the meantime, we will continue to apply pressure on the Court to treat its workers fairly. Here are some examples of actions that have been taken to demand fair treatment:

• Editorial in the OC Register demanding fair treatment;
• Demonstrating over 85% support on petitions for a fair wage enhancement; 
• OCEA General Manager submitting our petition to the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court;
• Submitting our petitions to the Court bargaining team demanding fair treatment; and
• Reaching out to community groups and elected officials and having them demonstrate their support for Court workers.

In the coming weeks we will continue to apply pressure on the Court to make a fair wage proposal. These actions include direct outreach to judicial officers organizing community allies to show support for the OC Superior Court workforce.

We will communicate the date of our mediation as soon as we have the date scheduled and any other updates as they occur.

In Solidarity,

Bridgette Washington
OCEA Senior Labor Relations Representative

Publication Date: November 3, 2017