USA : Back To Work: Santa Clara Co. Union Ratifies Court Workers' Labor Contract
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – Santa Clara County Superior Court workers returned to their jobs today after an eight-day strike that ended when their union reached a tentative agreement on a
new contract last week and ratified it over the weekend.
The Santa Clara County Professional Employees Association, which represents about 380 court workers, entered into mediation with the court on Wednesday and two days later reached a tentative contract that was ratified by about 250 members on Sunday afternoon, union president Ingrid Stewart said.
"We are pleased that a mutually agreeable resolution has been achieved. The Court is eager to move forward together and welcomes the returning of employees tomorrow and the resuming of our regular operations,"
court officials said in a statement issued Sunday.
The strike began on Aug. 3 over an initial two-year contract with the court that didn't offer a raise in the second year for the union that represents courtroom clerks, mediators and janitors. The reduced workforce
led the court to provide limited services at its 11 facilities throughout the county.
Many union members had gone without a raise for eight years and struggled to pay for basic necessities as the cost of living went up in the county, Stewart said.
Stewart, a courtroom clerk for about 30 years, said the strike brought "cohesiveness" and familial spirit among the employees. Many of them picketed outside the Hall of Justice in San Jose after negotiations had
failed.
The ratified agreement reduces the contract's length from two years to 18 months and gives union members a 5.5 percent increase upon ratification, 3 percent of which goes toward their retirement, Stewart said.
The union is also set to receive another 5 percent increase in November, with another 3 percent going back to their retirement, according to Stewart.
Employees who have worked with the court for six years or more also received a 5 percent pay increase upon signing the contract, according to Stewart.
There were also two clauses in the ratified contract for another raise. One would give the union another cost-of-living raise determined by the state based on Gov. Jerry Brown's recommendation to the Judicial Council
next year, Stewart said.
A "me too" clause would give the union another raise next year based on the court's agreement with Service Employees International Union Local 521 that represents court clerks and County Employees Management
Association, which is made up of middle-management court workers, according to Stewart.
The employees have reported to work today and face a backlog of work after the nearly two-week strike, Stewart said.
One clerk Stewart spoke to had one bucket filled with files of cases continued to later dates and another stacked with orders that needed to be filed, she said.
Stewart said she hoped management would understand the amount of work the clerks have to catch up on and called on them to lend a hand in alleviating the load.
"I hope supervision and management gets their sleeves rolled up and do paperwork," she said.
The union's return to work coincided with today's opening of the court's Family Justice Center Courthouse in downtown San Jose. The Family Courthouse in San Jose and the Sunnyvale Courthouse are closed and operations have moved to the new facility.
The court's Terraine Courthouse that hears juvenile dependency and adult drug cases and Notre Dame Courthouse that takes up cases on child support services and custody in addition to property mediation hearings will close on Aug. 22 and transfer to the new center.
-Bay City News/File photo