Yesterday, UAPD met with the County to continue negotiations over a successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In typical form, the County has shown little interest in quickly reaching an agreement with the Union. So far, the County has proposed a one year contract with a dismal 0.5% increase in exchange for “structural changes” of decreasing the employee paid employer’s contribution toward PERS. Meanwhile, the County has agreed to two year terms for all other unions with a 2% wage increase in the first year and a 3% wage increase in the second year.
UAPD has made several proposals, such as a realignment of P49 to P55 salary scale; Sabbatical Leave; Additional Pay for Additional Work; and 100% Annual Leave cash-out. The County has rejected all of them! While UAPD holds the line on these proposals, we are preparing wage and market adjustment proposals which will be presented to the County in the next meeting. Please be sure to forward any salary comparisons within the County limits of Santa Clara for your specialty to pat@uapd.com.
While our members continue to overextend themselves in maintaining the highest quality patient care amidst the challenges and frustrations of EHR and increased workloads, the County’s responses merely emphasizes its interest in maintaining bureaucratic delays instead of working with UAPD to find fair and equitable solutions to ongoing issues that affect our members.