Superior Court Negotiations Update: Aug. 29, 2022
Dear OCEA Member,
Last Friday marked the first day of official negotiations with the Orange County Superior Court. Your negotiations team—introduced in our last communication—met at OCEA Headquarters, while the Court’s team joined via Microsoft Teams. The Court's team is comprised of: Doug Freifeld, the Court’s Lead Negotiator; Shannon Mays-Fontaine, Chief Human Resource Officer; Adriaan Ayers, Chief Operations Officer; Darren Dang, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer; and other Court staff.
The Court began the meeting by making a financial presentation that covered the State and Court budget and their priorities. The Court’s narrative was intended to set the stage for its upcoming proposals, but it clearly underscored the rising vacancy rate and the need to address it with significant wage increases to our members. Overall, the Court's presentation made it clear Court executives remain out of touch with the economic and workplace realities faced every day by OCEA members.
After our meeting with the Court, the OCEA negotiations team worked past 5 p.m. to prepare and prioritize our proposals. Our next meeting with the Court is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 9.
At this meeting, your OCEA negotiations team will formally present the Court with OCEA's initial proposal and discuss the real world household budgets of OCEA members. Please continue to check your email for negotiations updates and encourage your coworkers to do the same.
An important note about the POWER OF A UNION: Some have a misguided notion of a union. A union is not a consumer product you shop for at Wal-Mart. It is an active movement where workers have the power to change their lives by building power. A union is working people standing together. Together we are OCEA. The way we achieve our power is through exercising it. Like a muscle, it must be used. We need you to get involved!
Click here to see how you can flex your power and fight for a better MOU. Remember, together we are OCEA!
In Solidarity,
Charles Barfield
OCEA General Manager
Publication Date: August 29, 2022
