39 social workers from Gilroy and San Martin were included in
deal that averted more than 1,000 from striking Thursday
Gilroy – After 16 hours at the bargaining table, county and union negotiators struck a deal, averting 1,097 Santa Clara County social workers, program service aides and welfare eligibility workers from going on strike.
The tentative agreement is a mixed bag for stressed-out social workers, who sought lower caseload maximums: the number of cases a social worker is expected to complete in a month. Some social workers will face higher caseloads, some will stay the same, and for some, the burden will get lighter.
“Caseload maximums are the sticking point for us,” said Robert Castillo, chief steward and negotiator with SEIU Local 535. “In some cases, they’ll be higher, and in some cases, they’ll be lower … This was not a Christmas list. Neither side got exactly what it wanted.”
A key clause in the agreement limits emergency response workers to 15 “joint response” days in a 21-day month, Castillo said. No prior limit existed. “Joint response” workers drop everything when a call arrives: within a half-hour, they’re on site with law enforcement, to stop child abuse as it happens. That makes it hard to follow up on other cases, left sitting on the desk: a maximum of 21 cases a month.
“The county is growing, and the county wants to cap hiring more social workers,” said Carlos Rivera, communications coordinator for SEIU Local 535. “So they want to do the easy thing: Increase caseloads.”
There are currently 39 social workers at work in Gilroy and San Martin. In a growing county with growing problems, they’re stretched thin, said Roxie Kuluk, steward for the South County Child Welfare Unit.
“I need time to listen,” Kuluk said. Between writing 35- to 50-page court reports and filling out “an excess of a thousand forms,” said Kuluk, she’s charged with the delicate work of deciding where a child is safe: with parents, with extended family, or in foster care. That takes time.
With 20 or more cases on her plate, she works overtime three times a week, each time for a few hours, to meet with children, therapists and relatives. Kuluk also gives her cell phone number to clients, to reach her at any time.
“I don’t even call that overtime,” she said.
Caseload maximums are near and dear to SEIU Local 535, which waged a 17-day strike to establish workload standards in 1975. On Monday, as county negotiators hinted at higher caseloads, the union announced a social workers’ strike, planned for Thursday, and a rally outside the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors building. But after a marathon negotiation that wrapped up at 1:45am Thursday, the strike was averted.
The agreement also bumped social workers’ wages higher: 8 percent over the next three years. Currently, an entry-level social worker earns $23.87 an hour; a more experienced employee takes home $29.47 an hour, according to Gwendolyn Mitchell, Santa Clara County Office of Public Affairs. That translates to about $49,000 per year for entry-level workers and $61,000 per year for those with experience. Eligibility workers earn somewhat less: $18.58 an hour at entry level, and $23.87 an hour with experience.
Thursday’s agreement also includes an improved retirement package, according to Castillo, who cited a 0.5 percent increase in the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS.) For “the average worker,” that’s an increase of “anywhere between $400 and $500 per month, retirement benefits,” said Castillo.
Surprisingly, wages didn’t raise temperatures: the issue was one of the first resolved on Wednesday. The increase is slightly less than that won by SEIU Local 715, a healthcare and public service workers’ union, in June.
County supervisor Don Gage said the wage increase won’t deepen the county’s projected $201 million deficit, because social workers are paid with federal funding – for the most part.
“This is money that, in most cases, doesn’t come out of the general fund,” said Gage, who called the agreement “extremely fair.”
Why “in most cases”? Mitchell explained that federal and state government haven’t fully reimbursed the county for cost-of-living adjustments, designed to keep pace with rising rents and prices.
“The state froze the cost of doing business in 2001,” said Mitchell, “and for child welfare, specifically, they froze it in 2002. We’ve been holding the line, because we’re not sure at what level the state will reimburse us.”
Union members will vote on the agreement Wednesday. It may not be ideal, but Rivera said members are happy with the agreement.
“We’ll know for sure how happy they are when they vote,” he said.
