Kern County Admin Bargaining

The Union and Kaiser Began Economic Talks

On July 23rd, Kaiser gave us their economic proposal minus the wage increases. The bargaining team determined it best to address the benefits side of economics before giving Kaiser our proposed wage scales. Remember in our original proposal we had asked that all benefits remain the same because of the input we received from many of you at the proposal meeting and from the completed surveys.

Highlights of the Employers Economic Proposal Include:

  • Earned Time Off (ETO): This was an important item that came up during our meeting several months ago. It looks as though employees will retain a single Earned Time Off bank with some variation in the rate of accrual. These changes would affect newer employees but keep things as they are for those with more seniority.
  • Health Benefits: Very few changes to Health, Vision and Dental. The union is also looking into ways that we can provide more options and better coverage for this bargaining unit. This may include preferred providers that take vision and dental at 100% coverage and a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) that many of our union members already have access to.
  • Life Insurance: For those who are currently buying into the higher supplemental life insurance coverage, these options will still be available. We are also looking into discounted premiums from other insurance companies.
  • Defined Benefit Pension Plan: Employees will not lose what they currently have in their pension plan. Everyone would move to a different, yet comparable plan once the contract is voted on and ratified. The benefits paid out upon retirement would come from both plans combined.
  • Plan B Retirement Plan: As expected, the employer is proposing the 401(K) plan which does not include the 5% employer contribution. There are creative ways to deal with this issue that the bargaining team is looking into. We will go into greater detail at a later date.

The union has not agreed to any of the employers’ economic proposals at this time. Your bargaining team will be working on costing everything out and reviewing what’s currently on the table before our next bargaining dates. It’s important to this committee that we explore every available option and make decisions that we all believe are in the best interests of the entire bargaining unit.

Next Bargaining Dates Are August 20th and 21st. We Also Have Dates Scheduled For The First Week Of September. It Is Our Intention To Have A Recommended Offer To Take To The Bargaining Unit For A Vote By The Middle Of September. We Will Continue To Update Everyone As Bargaining Progresses.