SEIU workers approve S.J. County labor pact after long stalemate

STOCKTON — Nearly 4,000 Service Employees International Union 1021 members voted to approve a new labor agreement with San Joaquin County on Tuesday night, effectively ending a nearly fivemonth breakdown in negotiations.

Union officials made an announcement on the SEIU 1021 Facebook page Tuesday night that 88 percent of their more than 4,400 members voted “yes” to a 6 percent wage increase over three years.

However, instead of receiving a 2 percent wage increase each year as originally proposed by the county, SEIU 1021 members will see 5 percent wage increase in the contract’s first year.

The increase will be included in members’ Dec. 30 paycheck, according to documents posted on the SEIU 1021 Facebook page last week.

There will be no wage increase during the contract’s second year, but there will be a 1 percent wage increase in the third year. The final wage increase will be effective July 9, 2018.

The new contract will expire Sept. 5, 2019.

“I don’t think it’s perfect, but it’s definitely better than getting nothing,” SEIU member Hector Sanchez said after he voted in the County Administration Building lobby at 44 N. San Joaquin St. in Stockton.

Sanchez works in the Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector and is one of the more recent hires at the county, coming on board last December just before the union and county began negotiations.

He said he’s relieved the back and forth between SEIU and the county is over.

“The way (the contract) is structured, I think it is definitely benefiting more recent employees,” he said. “But (the union) is also trying to make sure there is more for everyone.”

In addition to a wage increase, each union member will receive an $800 signing bonus on Dec. 16, something that wasn’t included in the county’s original offer earlier this year.

Union members will also have their floating holidays reinstated across the board on July 1, 2017.

Currently, union members hired by the county after Dec. 7, 2011, were not granted floating holidays, while employees with longer tenure received four, according to SEIU officials. Now all employees will be granted four floating holidays.

While a 6 percent wage increase divided 5-0-1 seems to be the same as the county’s original 2-2-2 offer, the union said front-loading the majority of money in the contract’s first year will get more now and throughout the life of the agreement.

In its Facebook post, the union said the 5-0-1 formula means the county will be paying members $56.2 million over three years instead of the $39.7 million initially proposed.

But Susan Mercado, who also works in the Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector, wasn’t enthusiastic about not getting a wage increase during the contract’s second year.

She said there could have been something negotiated for the second year, even if it meant a 4 percent increase the first year and a 1 percent increase in each of the final two years.