Three county measures, all dealing with labor negotiation
issues, appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Three county measures, all dealing with labor negotiation issues, appear on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Measure A would allow the county to make fair and complete comparisons to private sector employees when determining rates of pay. We urge Santa Clara County residents to vote yes on Measure A.
Judges have interpreted the county’s current “prevailing wage” provision to mean that only salaries, not benefit packages, can be compared. In the case of attorneys, for example, private attorneys tend to have very high salaries, but less impressive benefits packages. County employees, like most government workers, have excellent benefits packages. Government workers have much better retirement benefits than private sector employees, who often have no retirement benefits at all.
It’s only fair to taxpayers that the county make a complete comparison – salary and benefits – when determining what constitutes the prevailing compensation package.
Vote yes on Measure A.
Measure B would allow voters to overturn a decision made by arbitrators in a wage or benefit dispute.
Under the current system, if a dispute reaches an impasse and an arbitrator is called in to mediate, there is no way to appeal the decision. This is a system without any sort of checks and balances for arbitrators who make decisions that place onerous burdens on taxpayers.
After all, taxpayers are the ones who pay the salary and benefits of county employees. They need to be able to overturn unfair arbitrator decisions. Vote yes on Measure B.
Measure C would replace the current system to resolve labor disputes between certain county employees and county supervisors. If Measure C passes, when negotiations reach an impasse, an unelected arbitration board would have final say on how much employees are paid. These arbiters are not accountable to taxpayers and may have no understanding how their decisions will affect the county budget.
This is similar to the binding arbitration system in Gilroy that resulted in a budget-busting order to award firefighters a fat retirement package. That costly benefit has slowed hiring of needed firefighters because the city can’t afford the compensation package.
Let’s keep our current system in which those who decide how much county workers are paid accountable to taxpayers. No on C.
