Orange County’s Teamsters have again rejected a new contract offer from county supervisors and are threatening to go back on strike unless a new deal is quickly reached.
“The Board of Supervisors returned with the same offer we warned them would not pass, and our members overwhelmingly rejected it as it fails to respect the critical work they perform every day,” wrote Eric Jimenez, secretary treasurer of the Teamsters Local 952 union in a Tuesday statement.
“Our members are ready to strike if that’s what it takes to secure a fair contract.”
That threat comes just one week after teamsters left the picket lines, which county officials initially insisted was not heavily impacting the county before later admitting in filings to the state labor board it was throttling processing at local landfills.
The teamsters are the only union at the county to strike so far after county supervisors offered a controversial one year contract with a 3% raise after insisting for months they couldn’t offer any raises amid an increasingly structurally imbalanced budget.
The teamsters, who largely work at the county’s landfills, were one of three unions not to take the deal, alongside the county sheriff deputies union and the local branch of the American State Federal and Municipal Employees union.
While supervisors upped the offer from 3% to 4% in the latest round of negotiations, a signing bonus and back pay were not offered, which has been a major sticking point for the teamsters in the negotiations.
Because of how many pay periods the union has already missed by not taking the earlier deal when their last contract expired in June, the 4% increase without any back pay is closer to the 3% raise originally offered by county supervisors.
Both the county and teamsters have filed complaints with the state Public Employment Relations Board, with union leaders claiming the county negotiated in bad faith for months while county leaders say the union is using improper strike tactics to force a deal.
County spokesperson Molly Nichelson said the county “respects the rights” of workers to strike, and that if they went back on the picket line they would be prepared.
“The County will continue to execute contingency plans as needed to minimize any service disruptions.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
