After months of protesting a proposed healthcare plan, San
Benito County Superior Court employees and the administration have
agreed on a possible union contract that accommodates everyone,
according to the court executive officer.
Hollister – After months of protesting a proposed healthcare plan, San Benito County Superior Court employees and the administration have agreed on a possible union contract that accommodates everyone, according to the court executive officer.
Before an agreement was reached, about 20 female court reporters and court clerks, who had been without a contract since October, picketed the court and even talked about a strike over a proposal offered by the court which they said would cut their healthcare benefits and provide inadequate salary increases. They also accused Calvo of attempting to cut the workers’ benefits without taking any cuts himself. Calvo disputed this and said his salary or benefits could be cut sometime in the future because of the court’s financial plight.
After both sides made significant concessions in recent weeks, the court and the Service Employees International Union agreed on a proposed contract that would increase the women’s salary by 2 percent and require the court to pay a base percentage of employees’ healthcare, said CEO Alex Calvo.
“It was a long time and it took a lot of negotiation from both sides,” Calvo said. “There was a realization by everybody that the most important issue, even more important than salary increases, was some security for health benefits.”
Although the women signed and ratified the contract on Tuesday, SEIU organizer John Vellardita said the union hasn’t signed the agreement yet and won’t make any comments about it until then, although he said he’s not in the position to dispute Calvo’s comments.
“There’s a scheduled meeting on Monday to bring closure,” Vellardita said. “I won’t comment on it until we have an agreement that’s complete.”
Court clerk Jeanene Rasmussen, the spokeswoman for the workers, also declined to comment on the agreement until it’s signed by the union on Monday. But she said there are several “brush-up” items on points in the agreement the workers want clarified.
Calvo said The employees’ two-year contract will increase their salaries by 2 percent, effective in July, and require the courts to pay a base percentage for employees’ healthcare instead of a fluctuating percentage, he said.
This year the employees’ benefits will remain status quo, but next year employees could see an increase to their premium costs, depending on how much the insurance company raises the costs. The court will pay an increase in premium costs of up to 12 percent, but the employees will have to cover any increase after that. Calvo said increases in healthcare insurance have exceeded 20 percent in the past.
The four months of back and forth between the union and the court’s administration created a unfriendly environment, with court workers talking about striking if the situation wasn’t resolved satisfactorily and accusations flying back and forth from both sides. Calvo said the court didn’t have the money to give the employees what they were asking for, and if they did, services would suffer and employees could have been laid off.
“This (contract) will help us get back to focusing on work we all need to be doing and want to be doing,” he said. “And we will be able to maintain our level of service to the community as we’ve done in the past.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
