Sutter County, employees association reach tentative deal

Sutter County officials and the bargaining team for the Sutter County Employees Association – Local #1 reached a tentative contract agreement this week, nine months after negotiations officially began.

The deal as it is currently structured would run through 2021 and see employees represented by the association receive a 3 percent raise over the next year and a half. County positions represented by the association include general, supervisory and professional employees.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the association announced that an agreement had been reached and that due to unforeseen circumstances brought about by the current public health emergency, the bargaining team voted to secure a deal that maintained status quo for employees.

“The COVID-19 Epidemic has shaken our county to its core, and it is times like these where we need to band together and put our fight on hold and live to fight another day,” according to the association.

Some of the highlights of the agreement include a pay raise – 1 percent upon ratification, 1 percent in July 2020 and another 1 percent in July 2021 – secured health benefits during a time where the cost of health insurance is guaranteed to go up, and the opportunity to reopen wage negotiations for custodians in September 2020.

“Due to the current state of our county and community, I believe this is a good contract. I have sat on the negotiation committee and we have bargained with the county in good faith from both sides,” said Lorie Thomas, a 27-year employee of child support services for the county, in a letter sent out to union members. “I know we would like to see more in a COLA (cost-ofliving adjustment), but I am looking at the whole picture. I am thankful to still have my job and that I am still receiving a paycheck while others face layoffs and unemployment. With the uncertainty of our current economy, I don’t want to see the county have to make any layoffs.”

More than 70 county employees attended a recent board of supervisors meeting to advocate for elected officials to help get the negotiations over the finish line and to provide those represented by the union with what they said was a living wage. Union members have been operating without a contract since the start of the year.

“The tentative labor agreement was negotiated through collaboration and cooperation – and a lot of hard work – by the two bargaining teams, the team representing the employees and the county team representing the Board of Supervisors,” said Chuck Smith, public information officer for the county. “The tentative agreement still must be voted on by the employees, and approved by the Board of Supervisors.”

Union members will be asked to vote by personal email with Electionbuddy.com. Employees that haven’t filed their personal email with the association are encouraged to send it to Anna.anderson@ ca.afscme57.org by March 30 at noon. Voting will take place April 1-3.