SEIU 721 eligibility workers from Santa Barbara County, including members from the Santa Maria offices, as well as SEIU 721 staff, spoke at the Board of Supervisors meeting in Santa Barbara on Tuesday, May 19. Speakers urged the board to consider the pay inequities as it prepares for its upcoming budget review and adoption.
“We’ve been meeting with the County on the salary inequities and those discussions are moving along, ” Joe Kahraman, SEIU 721 Tri-Counties Regional Director said at the Board meeting. “It’s time to do the right thing and plan ahead to make these corrections as you look at your upcoming budgets.”
SEIU 721 members Eddie Ozeta, Chapter Board President of Santa Barbara and Eligibility Worker, Gary Miller, Eligibility Worker and inequity review team member and Adolfo Granados, SEIU 721 Executive Board member and Eligibility Worker in Los Angeles all spoke in support of equity for Eligibility Workers, Public Defender Investigators and Probation Assistants. SEIU 721 researcher Ryan Hudson also made a brief presentation on the massive pay inequities.
“The Board has just heard about some of the “External” issues related to the salary inequities in the County but there are also internal misalignments in the County as well.” said Gary Miller. Miller went on to describe how Eligibility Workers face a host of complex scenarios and how they are held accountable for these decisions, something workers in other classifications don’t face yet those classifications make more money than Eligibility Workers at this time.
Update on inequity study meet and confer sessions
The SEIU Local 721 Santa Barbara County inequity review team met with County management for its second session on Friday May 15 to look at salary inequities with Eligibility Workers, Public Defender Investigators and possibly Probation Assistants. Our proposal and our ask to bring these classifications closer to parity was given to management. The next meet and confer session is scheduled for June 9.
—
Click on the photo below to see more photos from the Board of Supervisors action and remember, Equity for All!
