Greg Gomez, president of the Tulare County Chapter of SEIU Local 521, issued this statement today after the Tulare County Board of Supervisors action to reinstate promotions for a small number of employees:
“In 2011, the county had the opportunity to come to us and negotiate for another year of relief from having to resume step and promotion increases. Instead, they hired the best labor law firm in California, at taxpayer expense, to force a package proposal down our throats. Their own chief negotiator admitted this under oath in front of an administrative law judge for the Public Employment Relations Board on May 16. She told the judge how the Board of Supervisors directed her to declare an impasse in negotiations even though we told them we were still willing to work on a compromise. This is not negotiating in good faith, it’s theft. And still, today, even though the money is there, the county refuses to make good on its promises for the vast majority of its workers. Again, we call on the Board of Supervisors to make good on the language they themselves ratified unanimously in 2009.”
