Supervisors Vote 5-0 For New Labor Pact

The OC Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to adopt the new county labor pact with OCEA and SEIU. As readers know the pact:

• Give county employees a one-time 4.75% pay hike
• Splits the retiree medical insurance pool off from the current employees insurance pool, and reduces the grant COLA to from 5% to 3%.
• Cuts retirees medical insurance grant when they hit 65 years of age
• Implements disincentives to retire before age 60 and incentives to work until age 70.
• Caps market rate adjustment to 1.25%.

While a long parade of retired county employees took turns denouncing the pact, not a single OCEA or SEIU member spoke in support of a package. They got their 4.75% pay hike but let the supes take the heat from the retirees without providing any covering fire. Nice.

The only person who spoke in favor of the pact was Reed Royalty from the OC Taxpayers Association.

Kudos to Sup. Correa, the only Supervisor who faces the prospect of paying an immediate political price. It won't take much for an independent expenditure committee to hit him with seniors and Democratic voters over this vote in hopes of demoralizing them from voting.  The pact already had the votes to pass and Lou could have cast a politically safe, populist vote against it. But he cast the hard, responsible vote instead.

Comments

[Bladerunner]

Jubal-I agree with your analysis of the vote as it pertains to Supervisor Correa. In fact, I was surprised by your giving him props. DId you want to join Art as Co-Chair of Republicans for Correa?

Bladrunner

You also forgot to include joining the OC Register Editorial Board, every true conservative Republican, those against the Grey Davis's car tax, those against agressive eminent domain policies, those against socially liberal causes. I'm basically talking about 63% of the voters in the 34th SD.

Get over it Bladerunner, your golden boy Umberg lost bigtime and now its the lady from Brea turn.

[Bladerunner]

10:47--I was over the primary the next day. Life moves on. And I'm fine with Lou. And on the first day of the session when Lou votes for Perata and not Ackerman as Pro Tempore, I'll thank you and your fellow travelers for keeping the GOP tent small and grasping defeat out what could have been a big GOP victory in the only competitive Senate seat in the state.

[Play Fair]

You make an issue on the general employees' 4.75 pay raise, but why haven't you mentioned what the sheriff's union is asking for or may have already gotten; 6% per year for three years, for a total of 18%.

[RV]

In addition to the last post about the deputy union where was all of this protest when they got there 3% @ 50 and the fact the general membership pays into there retirement and the deputies pay zilch zippo so where is the fairness in treating the employees the same sounds like a grand jury investigation needs to look into the equity in which the county negotiates or in the deputies case just open up the wallets and let them write there own check. Do the math people your aiming your furor at the wrong unions try penting it up when the deputies come in with that big contract like they always get maybe salary audits are in order or maybe all the unions other than them need to sue the county for bargaining in bad faith