Dozens of SEIU-represented county workers came to Tuesday’s Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting calling for a fair contract as negotiations begin.
“I’m asking the leaders of Riverside County to support a fair bargaining process that shows our members how valuable they are, a process that recognizes the work our members do,” SEIU 721 President and Executive Director David Green said at the June 9 meeting. “And we ask you to preserve the integrity of the public services in the county with a contract that will help decrease outsourcing that goes on, help retain and hire the professionals needed to continue and provide the services that our community not only deserves, but depends on every single day.”
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Ernesto Guerrero, the regional director for SEIU 721 Inland Region, said in an interview with The Riverside Record that the union knew this negotiation was not going to be easy with the financial pressures facing the county, which is set to adopt a deficit budget for the second year in a row.
“Due to the implementation of H.R. 1, the bill from the Trump administration, there’s millions of dollars in funding cuts to all the different programs run by our members within the county,” he said. “That affects our members, but ultimately affects the community.”
While he said the union was aware of these realities, the members showed up to the meeting to ensure the county knew they were engaged and ready to get to work on negotiations.
“Fighting for a new contract doesn’t mean fighting for frivolous benefits and salaries,” he said. “It’s to make sure that the people who actually take care of the residents of the county can do the jobs and can retain the professionals that they need to be able to be safe.”
County employees who spoke included Meghan Boyd, social services supervisor with the Department of Public Social Services Children and Family Services division and resident, who said it was her hope that the county and the union would be able to come to an agreement that worked for both employees and the county.
“During these upcoming negotiations, we just ask for a fair contract that allows us to keep working and living in this great county,” she said. “And we just ask that whatever cuts need to occur, it isn’t at the cost of the workers that keep this county running.”
Tangela Ford, a senior accountant in the Auditor Controller’s Office and resident, said she took the day off to be at the meeting, because it was that important to her to make sure the supervisors understood that a fair contract isn’t just good for workers, it’s also good for residents.
“People in our communities are losing their jobs…where do you think they’re going to go,” she said. “They’re going to need the county, and we want to help them. We love to help people, but we can’t do that if we don’t have a fair contract.”
Along with speaking at the meeting, the union provided each of the supervisors with a folder that included the signatures of thousands of SEIU-represented county workers calling for a fair contract.
SEIU represents more than 9,000 Riverside County employees.
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