Marin’s largest public sector union has called a three-day strike that could force Marin County Fair visitors to face picket lines.
The labor union, the Marin Association of Public Employees, said it plans to strike from 6 a.m. Sunday through 10 p.m. Tuesday. The fair starts Saturday, the last day of the fiscal year and the end of the current contract.
The union plans to demonstrate at the fair on Saturday and Sunday. It told its members to picket their regular place of employment on Monday and Tuesday.
“Having the strike at a big event like the fair will hopefully get the county’s attention,” said Rollie Katz, executive director of the union. “We’re going to exercise our First Amendment rights to ask people not to go to the fair.”
Katz said the union is willing to keep negotiating through the strike. The county said the same.
“We are committed to fair pay and compensation for our employees, and we were working toward common ground at the table,” Angela Nicholson, assistant county administrator, said in a released statement. “We respect the labor negotiations process and want to do everything we can to reach agreements while watching out for our residents and balancing our budget.”
MAPE represents 1,471 of the county’s 2,740 employees. The union and the county have been unable to reach an agreement on a range of issues including wages and retirement benefits.
The two sides began working with a state mediator on June 13. The last session, on Monday, failed to break the impasse.
“In spite of the County’s response to several of the union’s demands, MAPE did not respond to any of the County’s proposals other than to inform the mediator that the County’s package was insufficient,” the county said on its website.
The county says it has offered wage increases of 2.5 percent, 3 percent and 2 percent over each of the next three years. The union sought 3.5 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent.
“The County’s current package is valued at more than 9 percent over the three-year term of the agreement, which includes a one-time bargaining bonus of $1,000 for employees making less than $90,000 per year and $500 for those making more than $90,000,” the county said in its released statement.
In addition to the dispute over pay raises, county managers and MAPE are at odds over several changes the county is seeking that could result in significant pay reductions for some lower-paid county employees.
Mary Hao, the county’s director of human resources, said the county conducted a survey and determined that workers are generally well paid for the market.
“What we discovered in our research was that 90 percent of MAPE — represented job classifications have a pay range, that is — on average — 7.8 percent above the market rate,” she said this month.
The county said the strike “will not impact the hours or services” at the annual fair, whose theme this year is “All for one, fun for all.” The county also said sheriff’s deputies, county firefighters, emergency dispatchers and other key workers will not participate.
The last time Marin County employees went on strike was the summer of 1998. At that time, MAPE was seeking a 10 percent wage increase over two years. County managers started out offering a 7.5 percent wage hike over three years. At the end of the seven-day strike, however, the county agreed to a contract that gave employees a 10.5 percent wage increase over three years.
