Sonoma County, workers' union at odds in contract talks

Sonoma County administrators and the union representing 3,000 county workers may be nearing an impasse over contract negotiations, and a state mediator is being summoned to the next session Wednesday.

Representatives of the administration and the union have met more than two dozen times over the past five months in attempts to negotiate a contract to replace the one that expired June 30. Both sides say they are far apart on salary and health care benefits.

County officials declared Monday that talks had reached an impasse over 34 unresolved issues, but officials with the Service Employees International Union disagreed, saying they remain willing to negotiate. Both sides met again for much of Friday.

About 100 union supporters gathered at the county administration building before Friday's negotiation session to demonstrate support for the union's contract proposals.

"How can they cut health care benefits for working-class families in Sonoma County?" asked Andre Bercut, a county child support services worker and union negotiating team member.

Employees at the rally said they object to the county's health care proposal that would give them a set amount of money to pay health care premiums, a departure from the current contract in which the county pays 85 percent of costs of the employee's choice of plans.

Krista Bonanno, a seven-year employee with the county, said her monthly medical costs would increase from $300 to $1,430 because her family needs the county health plan that covers treatment for her 4-year-old son, Joshua, who has a severe medical condition.

"By the time I'd pay day care costs for him, I'd have $38 a month left over for my other two children," Bonanno said. "That is not a fair contract."

County administrators say the increasingly high costs of health plans are forcing them to shift more costs to employees and retirees. They say major changes to health care benefits for employees and retirees are necessary to reduce unfunded liabilities that total about $37 million annually.

County human resources director Ann Goodrich said the county proposes to give employees set monthly amounts for health premiums as well as a cash allowance that the employee could use for health care or take as salary. The county's plan, she said, would boost the pay of many employees who would have more choice in how to spend their pay.

You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.