Monterey County court workers ‘frustrated’ with labor contract talks, say they’re ‘strike-ready.’

Unionized Monterey County court employees are unhappy with how negotiations over a new labor contract are playing out, and say they’re ready for a work stoppage if necessary.

Since September, negotiators representing 165 courtroom clerks, court reporters, paralegals, tech personnel and other county court workers have been bargaining with their employers at Monterey County Superior Court over a new contract. With their previous three-year labor contract having ended Sept. 30, the unit’s negotiators say they’ve yet to receive a satisfactory offer from the county court system.

That led around 70 members of the unit, which is part of SEIU Local 521, to voice their demands with a rally outside the county courthouse building in Salinas on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 26. Wearing shirts bearing SEIU’s trademark purple and holding signs reading “Fair Contract Now” and “Recruit, Train & Retain Quality Workers,” they marched and chanted through the courthouse’s plaza during the court’s usual lunch break.

Sally Lopez, a courtroom clerk in Salinas who is part of the unit’s bargaining team, says the process has thus far been “frustrating” and the sides are still far apart. Lopez says county court workers are underpaid compared to colleagues working in the district attorney’s office, public defender’s office and other local government agencies, which has led to employee attrition and chronic understaffing. The unit is looking to address those issues through “better salaries to keep people here,” she adds, and is asking for 16-percent salary increases over a three-year contract.

Monterey County Superior Court, meanwhile, has offered 12-percent salary increases over three years, which Chris Ruhl, the court’s executive officer, describes as “the most generous proposal we’ve ever had on the table” in his nearly seven years in the position. The court’s offer also includes paying 90 percent of employees’ health insurance costs (up from 88 percent in the previous contract); increasing the court’s employee life insurance contribution to $50,000 (from $30,000 previously); and hiking the pay differential for bilingual employees to $1 per hour (from $0.70 per hour previously).

“We truly wish we could wave a magic wand and address all of the inflationary pressures that our employees are feeling, because we know they are [feeling them],” Ruhl says. He adds that “part of the challenge is that the court’s budget isn’t keeping up with inflation,” citing the 3-percent inflationary adjustment provided to California courts in this year’s state budget.

But the county court’s employees think it can do better. Lopez argues that the court gets reimbursed from the state for its health care expenses, and claims that its life insurance contribution has remained at $30,000 since she started working at the Salinas courthouse 26 years ago. “It doesn’t seem like management wants to invest in its employees,” Lopez says. “Our employees are overworked and tired, and they don’t feel like they’re appreciated and recognized for their hard work.”

For his part, Ruhl insists that the court values the “critical and essential” work of its employees, and is “absolutely committed to continuing to engage with SEIU to reach an agreement that benefits everybody involved.” He says unit members were “absolutely within their rights” to rally outside the courthouse last week, and that the court is “doing everything we can to avoid any disruption to our services to the public.”

Yet further disruptions could be on the horizon if the two sides fail to make progress at the negotiating table. Another round of bargaining was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 31, with a mediator from the state’s Public Employment Relations Board expected to join the discussions. But should the mediator not help further negotiations, Lopez insists the unit is prepared to take more dramatic action in the form of a work stoppage. “We’re strike-ready,” she says.

Ruhl says the court is intent on avoiding that outcome. “Hopefully, we reach an agreement,” he notes. “If not, we have to be prepared to do what we can to provide service to the public.”