Employees at Community Solutions will picket outside their
office in south Gilroy Wednesday afternoon to protest stagnant
wages after they claim their boss received a 23-percent pay
bump.
Employees at Community Solutions will picket outside their office in south Gilroy Wednesday afternoon to protest stagnant wages after they claim their boss received a 23-percent pay bump.
The case managers, program specialists and therapists at the private, non-profit organization – which helps clients with mental health, drug problems and domestic abuse issues – plan to picket at noon at 6980 Chestnut St. They have accused President and CEO Erin O’Brien of negotiating in bad faith after raising her salary from $99,625 to $122,460.
O’Brien will explain the management’s reasoning and point of view tomorrow morning before the protest.
In a written statement Tuesday, Service Employees International Union Local 521 Spokesperson Khanh Weinberg said, “At a time of deep economic distress when working men and women are hanging on by their fingernails, management refuses even a Cost of Living Adjustment for its workers.”
Community Services has three offices in Morgan Hill, one in Gilroy and one in Hollister. The nonprofit employs 86 full-time, union employees and 72 hourly employees and operates an annual budget of $9.8 million, according to union figures.
The last union negotiation occurred in October 2007, and the current contract expires in 2010. In 2005, there was a strike over health care costs. No wage increases occurred in 2005 and 2006, but there was a 3 percent “cost of living adjustment” for the period between July 2007 and October of this year.
Low-end administrative support employees earn about $28,000 a year; higher-end employees such as clinical coordinators make about $51,600 annually, according to union figures.
