Contra Costa County has reached agreement with nine labor unions on a new contract, one that the union leaders hope will entice workers to stay at their jobs and not defect for other Bay Area county governments.
Nine unions that represent more than 6,000 workers — including hospital lab technicians, IT staff, social service workers and prosecutors — have agreed in principle to a four-year deal, with a 5% raise each year.
It’s one of the more lucrative raise structures in recent memory for county workers, some of whom said the COVID-19 pandemic has worn them thin and led many of their colleagues to seek jobs with other public employers such as Alameda, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties.
“We’ve felt a lot of stress and pressure from being short-staffed for so long,” said Rose Castañeda, an accountant in the county’s employment and human services department who called the new deal an “exciting step in the right direction.” The 5% raise she receives next year will be the highest she’s gotten since she was hired in 2017.
For county leaders, the deal was a necessary step to meet sky-high inflation rates and compete with neighboring counties where higher property values consistently produce more tax revenue.
“This puts us in a better position to recruit and retain the greatest talent and skills among employees in important areas,” said Supervisor John Gioia, who voted on Tuesday with fellow supervisors to ratify new contracts for all the unions, with the exception of Contra Costa Public Defenders, which is still finalizing terms with county officials. The contract is effective as of Aug. 1.
The county, which had a vacancy rate of 20% among nearly 10,000 full-time positions last year, compared to 12% in Santa Clara County, has also agreed to hire an outside firm to compare the salaries offered by various county departments against market-rate wages.
The firm’s study will be complete by next summer, and union leaders plan to meet with county officials afterward to discuss adjusting salaries for jobs that currently don’t pay enough.
“That, combined with just the overall contracts, gave our unions the confidence that the county has done all that it could within its means presently to try to address the worst staffing problems,” said Sean Stalbaum, lead organizer with nine-union coalition Staff Up Contra Costa.
Labor leaders had initially sought a 20% deal over three years and the county countered with 12%, producing a long standoff that ran well over the last contract’s expiration date in June. They settled on 20% over four years.
At large rallies in recent months, labor leaders said the county had not been able to fill a growing number of vacant positions and leaned on existing workers to carry out multiple jobs.
Castañeda, who was promoted to an accounting position in her department, watched her team of five instantly shrink when two senior staffers resigned.
“It was very challenging to be able to do the things we need to do to serve our community,” she said.
The health services department especially felt the strain, seeing a 14% increase in vacancies last year from 2020 after a grueling pandemic left them stressed out and exhausted.
By reaching a deal, the two sides staved off what Stalbaum described as a likely impasse in negotiations that would’ve required the state’s mediation.
“We knew going into this that the county was not going to be able to provide all that we were seeking,” Stalbaum said. “We’re grateful for the county’s leadership in doing as much as they could this cycle to try to correct the staffing problems we have.”