County reaches tentative deal with union on raises for in-home caregivers
Kern County labor negotiators reached a tentative wage agreement this week with the United Domestic Workers of America, paving the way for a new contract and wage increases for 13,000 local workers employed through the state’s In-Home Supportive Services Program.
The agreement includes a $1 hourly pay increase staggered over three years, including an immediate 60-cent increase followed by an additional 20-cent increase in 2025 and 2026. It was the county’s final offer, presented on Feb. 14 and rejected by UDW negotiators on March 27. The union declared an impasse after that bargaining session.
Negotiations have roiled past meetings of the county Board of Supervisors, such as on Feb. 27 when health care workers began chanting “Forward, not backward,” prompting board Chairman David Couch to gavel a nine-minute recess. Past discussions have also prompted appearances from pinnacle figures, including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.
The tentative agreement was confirmed Tuesday by the county’s interim administrator, Elsa Martinez, who said the deal was originally reached Monday. While not yet finalized by UDW membership, the accord would end a seven-year bargaining battle between the county and union negotiators.
This came one day before Kern supervisors planned to declare a second impasse in negotiations. Such an announcement would require a state mediator to be called in to settle the dispute. But supervisors pulled the impasse document at the start of its 2 p.m. meeting Tuesday.
“I think this is a positive development for all sides involved,” Kern 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Flores said. “Especially for the actual clients who can continue to receive services.”
An impasse was first declared by the county in 2019, two years after the IHSS program’s last contract expired. Mediation failed to resolve the issue and discussions resumed in 2022, but problems persisted.
The seven years have marked one of Kern County’s longest and most divisive labor battles.
According to state data, few of Kern’s roughly 10,000 caregivers in the program earn more than the state’s minimum wage.
Kern, alongside the counties of Siskiyou, Tehama, Calaveras and Glenn, offer the lowest IHSS wages in the state. Some workers rely on welfare services to get by.
These are the workers who cook, clean and care for an estimated 13,000 rapidly aging or disabled people in Kern — in many cases their relatives. Without the IHSS program, many people would have to leave their homes and move into more costly facilities, at the government’s expense.
“At the end of the day, it’s a state program that helps our residents to stay in their homes, rather than them being placed in a facility,” Martinez said.
The union has repeatedly called for a $1-per-hour raise — an almost $2 million cost to Kern’s general fund. While this agreement would give the $1 raise requested, it also includes “sunset” language that says the proposed increase above the state minimum wage will expire in three years unless both parties can agree to a new contract.
“It’s just a way for them to come back to the table in three years so we don’t end up with another seven years trying to get an agreement with the union,” Martinez said. “We’re hopeful that the membership will approve it.”
Kern pays about 16.5% for any pay increase up to $1.10 per hour above the minimum wage. Any agreement negotiated above that amount, Martinez said, has to be covered totally by the county. While IHSS workers are technically state employees, their wages are negotiated by the respective county on the state’s behalf.
Both sides agree that the complicated funding process — a cost shared by county, state and federal government — has only gummed up negotiations.
“The inherent structure of the arrangement leads to a delayed process,” Flores said.
“Because it entails different layers of funding — that has been a challenge throughout the entire negotiations period,” said Yesenia Decasaus, assistant director of internal operations for UDW Local 3930.
While the county’s offer is “somewhat reasonable,” Decasaus said, the union is “disappointed” that it did not secure any fringe benefits for the workers. When IHSS workers last won a new contract, they got an 85-cent increase on the condition they waived their health benefits.
“But that’s what negotiations are,” she added.
The agreement will next go before the union’s members for a vote set on May 17, though most members are expected to submit ballots by mail, which they will receive as early as next week. If passed by a majority vote, the accord will go before county supervisors as soon as May 21.
“Obviously our bargaining team is urging members to vote ‘yes’ as we believe this is the best possible contract at the moment,” Decasaus said.