UPEC HEADQUARTERS – The Butte County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to increase their wages by approximately 5%, despite the request of Butte County employees and employee representatives to delay such action.
UPEC Labor Relations Representative Cara James asked the Board again today to forego the increase, a greater increase than the increases that the County has o?ered its employees, including the Skilled Trades Unit which UPEC represents. James presented documentation which compares the average salary of Road Workers and Board of Supervisor members in ?ve surrounding counties (Lassen, Plumas, Tehama, Yuba and Sutter) to the same positions in Butte County which showed that Road Worker salaries in Butte County on average are 6.5% below those of Road Workers in surrounding counties, while the average salary of a Board of Supervisor member in Butte County is 61% above that of Board of Supervisor members in surrounding counties. James spoke of the disparity between the wages of members of the Butte County Board of Supervisors and the wages of many of the Skilled Trades Unit workers and asked that the Board vote not to accept for themselves a greater wage increase than the increases that have been o?ered to County employees.
With today’s vote, UPEC announced that it is imperative that the Union explore options for a ballot measure to reform Board of Supervisor compensation (pay and bene?ts). “The Board’s vote proves that the system is broken, and the Board is not interested in ?xing the problem. This leaves it to us to make sure Butte County workers are treated fairly and to ensure that the system is reformed” said James. “We do not accept that Butte County employees should be part of the working poor.”
According to UPEC Labor Relations Manager Steve Allen, “This is larger than a Union issue. It is a community issue. There is absolutely no correlation between the Board of Supervisors and what state-wide Judges are paid. Salaries of Board members should be set by Butte County residents not a formula tied to judges so that the Board can dodge citizen input.” Allen stated he was having the matter researched to see if a referendum or an amendment to the County Charter would be options for the citizens to consider.
