The Record
STOCKTON — One San Joaquin County bargaining unit is finally getting a salary increase after four years without an agreement.
The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors last week unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with the county’s Probation Officer Bargaining Unit that will allow for a 6 percent cost of living increase over the next three years.
The estimated three-year cost of the agreement, according to last week’s supervisor’s agenda, totals $1.5 million, with net county costs expected to be $990,000.
Costs for the remainder of the 2015-16 fiscal year are expected to be $72,000, and can be absorbed by the Probation Department’s existing budget.
Costs for fiscal years 2016-17 and 2017-18 are expected to be $615,000 and $786,000, respectively, according to staff.
“Ours was the first labor group to make concessions a few years back, and I think the county recognized that,” San Joaquin Probation Officers Association President Travis Rowe said this week. “The county is coming out of some tough times with the recession, and it looks like its finances are looking better. Hopefully this process gets easier in the future.”
Rowe said the negotiation process with the county was a long, hard 18 months, but the end result presented his association with a fair deal.
“Our probation officers are working harder than ever before,” he said. “We need to remain competitive and need to do more to hire and retain qualified and committed officers in the future.”
San Joaquin County Administrator Monica Nino this week said the county’s correctional officers bargaining unit has also been without a COLA and salary increase for a number of years.
Theirs, she said, was last increased in 2011, just prior to probation’s last increase.
The county is currently in negotiations with labor units and bargaining units that represent more than 90 percent of its workforce, she said.
The board’s closed session last week included negotiations with a number of those groups, including the Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers West, San Joaquin County Management Association, the California Nurses Association and a variety of law enforcement units.
No announcement was made from last week’s closed session.
Supervisor Kathy Miller last week congratulated everyone involved with the bargaining process and said it was a positive step forward.
“This is a bargaining unit that hasn’t seen any salary increases in four years and really stepped up to help the county during the recession,” she said. “I think we’re really all pleased to see this and look forward to having a new contract in place.”
Board Chairman Moses Zapien echoed similar statements this week, as well.
“We appreciate and thank the Probation Officers Association for working with the county on an equitable contract for the next two-plus years,” he said.
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