Further labor unrest was averted Tuesday when employees and
management of Community Solutions came to an agreement on a new
contract. At issue were raises and benefits.
Further labor unrest was averted Tuesday when employees and management of Community Solutions came to an agreement on a new contract. At issue were raises and benefits.
While the contract must still be ratified by both sides, with union members voting Thursday and the agency board of directors meeting before Tuesday, representatives from union and agency say they are happy with the agreement and expect an easy vote to approve.
“We’re pleased that we got a settlement everybody’s happy with,” said Erin O’Brien, chief executive officer of Community Solutions.
O’Brien said she did not want to be too explicit about the contract’s terms until union members are notified by their representatives.
Union representative James Jiménez said what initially bothered him was that Community Solutions provides support for (community) families and children, overlooking their own.
“At first the negotiations weren’t really providing for the employees’ families and children,” he said. “Coming to the agreement showed they were willing to help families and children after all.”
“It worked out great,” Jiménez said.
Community Solutions employees, members of SEIU 715, picketed the agency offices at 16264 Church St. Tuesday and marched during the lunch hour, trying to raise public awareness of their difficulty.
Jiménez said last week that employees were worried about a proposed contract that did not include hoped for raises and tried to cut benefits.
“We want a fair contract,” Jiménez said. “But, if they won’t, we are preparing for a strike.”
“We know they do have the money,” Jiménez said. “Management is still getting raises. They made promises in the past but reneged on them.”
Wednesday afternoon, after the settlement, Jiménez said there would be no need for a strike, and that the two sides had come together with a solution that worked for everyone.
O’Brien, said Wednesday afternoon that she, too, was happy to reach an amicable settlement.
“These have been tough times for agencies,” O’Brien said. “We had significant budget cuts last year and see more coming. Our workers’ compensation costs have tripled, health costs are going through the roof.”
O’Brien said Community Solution offers an excellent benefits package to employees.
“We offer a compensation package like no other agency has,” she said. “We pay full costs for the employees and families. It’s difficult for them to see that; those benefits tend to be invisible to the staff.”
“In the settlement we had to balance our responsibility to the agency, our clients and staff,” O’Brien said. “We had to keep the fiscal health of the agency in mind.” She said management has never received raises when staff did not; in fact, the reverse is true.
“Management has foregone raises in the past when staff has gotten them; ours were not even on the table,” O’Brien said.
SEIU represents all employees who are not management and do not work for hourly wages, generally people who lead the classes, O’Brien said. About 75-80 are union members, she said, of approximately 115 total employees.
Community Solutions has served Morgan Hill, Gilroy and the South Valley since 1972. The most comprehensive public benefit agency in the area, Community Solutions provides a wide range of services that respond to issues of mental health, substance abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, teen parenting, juvenile delinquency, family dysfunction, homelessness and youth development.
Last year, more than 16,000 people were served by the agency.
