Targeting officials

For a significant amount of time, members and leaders of the United Domestic Workers Union, the organization that represents homecare workers in the InHome Support Services program, have demanded a salary increase from the County of Imperial. Union representatives appear regularly at Board of Supervisors meetings in pursuit of this goal.

Union members have argued persistently that their wages are not keeping up with cost of living. In some cases, employees with the In-Home Support Services have even brought elderly and handicapped residents who receive services to the meetings.

On Oct. 9, a UDW member told supervisors the final salary increase request was only 50 cents per hour. Though it might not sound like a big deal (and actually is not an important amount in terms of an increase for individual workers) if one considers that the raise would multiply by several thousands of employees and the number of hours worked per week then the final result means a considerable cost for our county and taxpayers. Actually, in at least two other counties, local authorities have approved wage increases only to have the state move out of the formula to provide funding for IHSS in those counties.

So while most of a proposed wage increase here presumably would be covered mostly by state and federal funds, that is not assured. And with the county amid a budget crunch that has depleted its cash reserves, supervisors have been resistant to negotiating.

This has turned workers frustrated and desperate, prompting them to explore other tactics to force authorities to approve their desired, necessary pay raise.

A couple of weeks ago the union announced it is targeting District 2 Supervisor Luis Plancarte for recall. They say he has been dragging his feet on resolving the issue despite promises to the contrary. According to the union 400 voter signatures have been collected in order to start the recall process against the rookie supervisor.

Plancarte, who in the past has had family members receive care through IHSS, told me over the phone he has met and heard the arguments from all the county unions. But he added he had made no promises as this would violate labor negotiations law.

District 5 Supervisor and Board Chairman Raymond Castillo is also catching heat from the union.

I clearly understand the union’s frustration due to the lack of results in the negotiations and the logic behind adopting tougher tactics. But I have yet to comprehend the reasoning behind targeting only two of our five supervisors.

Some years back, a union actually filed recall documents against our supervisors under similar circumstances. The result was, as expected, a positive one for workers, who reached an agreement without the need to move forward with the special election. This time the UDW is focusing in two of our five elected officials.

And of the other three the one who appears most vulnerable is District 1 Supervisor John Renison, who is seeking re-election and being challenged by Calexico City Councilman Jesús Escobar. However, the former Calexico Mayor seems to have covered his bases by expressing his support for a wage increase for UDW members.

There is no doubt the workers provide a great service to the elderly, by taking good care of them. It is also obvious their wages, like those of many of our local residents are lower than what is needed to make ends meet. And as suggested above, the negotiations have a lot of time without much to show for it.

Yet calling upon voters to remove their elected officials through a costly process would not necessarily conclude with the desired results.

So what is the solution? In other words, what’s the best way for the workers to reach a deal and get the wage increase they need?

Honestly, I don’t have the answer for that.