Union disputes county’s use of temporary help

EL CENTRO — While Imperial County has 2,078 full-time workers, it also has 312 workers classified as “extra help” who work without being offered any benefits.

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a pilot program for the next two years to give those employees a chance to be hired as full-time employees when their extra help work is no longer needed.

The Teamsters Union balked at this, saying these extra help employees would be hired at a higher grade than those who have already been working as full-time employees.

Furthermore, these employees, many of whom the union claims are unqualified for the job, would have to be trained by the workers who are already there.

The old policy mandated they would have to apply in an open competitive process with members of the public

wanting a specific position.

The supervisors embraced the pilot program, partly because those employees had already been doing the work as an extra help employee, so the only thing being changed is they would be eligible for benefits.

The Teamsters Union said the 312 extra helpers, of which 68 are paid through the general fund, are supposed to be used to complete jobs, and when done, their work is done.

The union maintains extra help worker is the county’s way of having cheap labor since they work with no benefits.

Supervisor Ryan Kelley said he would like to see a bar graph going back to the beginning of the fiscal year on the number of full-time county employees per month.

In December, the county received 393 applications for 23 recruitments, five which were full-time jobs, while the other 18 were for extra help.

Of the 393 applications, 87 were for an officer technician position, 42 for a deputy sheriff recruit and 41 for a cook.

In November, the county received 594 applications with 28 recruitments that resulted in 10 full-time hires and 15 extra help workers.

Of the 594 applications, 261 of them were for an office assistant position.

For specialized positions, the county on Dec. 19 gave a written exam for a public safety dispatcher and five psychological exams for November and December.

Supervisor Jesus Eduardo Escobar asked why there was no mention of succession planning, which he had requested.

HR Director Rodolfo Aguayo said the career paths, evaluations, training and resources they have for the employees will be provided to the supervisors at their Feb. 25 meeting.