The OCMA Board of Directors is continuing to negotiate with the County for a successor MOU to the one that expired in January of 2014. There have been many rumors circulating regarding the progress and possible issues being discussed, but in order to keep the process moving forward without validating the many diverse speculations, we will not discuss specifics here, but only say that we are hoping that a deal can be reached that will benefit the OC managers.
We know that this is frustrating news to hear, however this Board of Directors has, on many occasions reiterated that they will not support any deal that does not benefit managers with fair and honest working conditions and compensation. We know the sacrifices the managers have made in partnering with the County during times of financial difficulty, but now that the economy has turned the corner we know it is only right for the County to respect the managers by offering compensation that allows managers to live and prosper in the same County where services are provided. We will continue to fight and we also greatly appreciate the support from you, the OCMA membership.
Last Tuesday, the Public Employees Relations Board’s (PERB) Chief Administrative Law Judge issued a Proposed Decision finding that the adoption by the County of significant portions its COIN (Civic Openness in Negotiations) Ordinance violated both the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) and PERB Regulations. Since our negotiations began prior to the adoption of the Ordinance, current negotiations are not impacted by COIN, however, if the Ordinance was upheld, negotiations of successor MOU’s could be negatively impacted.
This is a significant victory for labor in Orange County and should it stand (the County could appeal the decision), will thwart the attempt by the County to politicize the negotiation process and allow good-faith bargaining a chance to succeed without using anti-labor rhetoric to influence the process. We, along with other Orange County labor organizations strongly urge the Board of Supervisors to work with County employees to develop initiatives that are fair, positive and beneficial to the County and it’s workforce.
On another positive note, with the blockbuster movie season just ahead, the Board of Directors has now decided to allow members who have reached their limit of 24 discount movie tickets ($5.00 per ticket) to purchase additions tickets at the OCMA cost of $8.50 per ticket (cash or checks are accepted). Call or e-mail (ocma@ocma.info) for hours the office is open for ticket sales.