Ventura County Star
CAMARILLO, Calif. — Ventura County probation officers staged their second informational picket Monday. The union declared an impasse in July.
Under a 2011 realignment shift intended to reduce state prison populations, county probation officers are supervising felony offenders whom state parole agents formerly oversaw. Don Douglass, president of the Ventura County Peace Officers’ Association, which represents 275 probation and youth corrections officers, has said things are not fine.
Union officials calculate that deputy probation officers are 12.6 percent behind the average pay in comparable counties and that correctional officers are 16.8 percent behind. The county’s assessment based on total compensation shows the probation officers are at the market rate and correctional officers are 4.38 percent behind.
The county’s proposal resembled those offered to other labor unions: wage increases of 5 percent, a $750 one-time bonus and an increase in the credit given to employees to pay for health insurance, among other items.