BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — 23ABC spoke with two SEIU Local 521 members about the latest tentative agreement with the county, with both saying they don't believe the union has their best interest at heart.
- Kern County and SEIU Local 521 have reached a tentative employment agreement.
- Union members express dissatisfaction, claiming the contract does not meet their needs.
- The agreement includes a 6% raise, but some see it as similar to last year's offer.
- Union leadership is praised for their creativity, but some employees feel misrepresented.
- A vote by union members on the tentative agreement is expected soon.
“Our continuous actions, the increasing public support of our cause to Fix Kern, and the determination of thousands of us to be strike-ready—Kern County workers—pushed the County’s management team back to the table with new urgency. Through our collective strength and sacrifice, and following round-the-clock mediation, we have reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) that we strongly believe sets a framework to begin addressing chronic short staffing, recruitment, and retention, and workplace safety.
This agreement wasn’t handed to us—it was won through our unity, organizing, and the power workers showed by standing ready to change the status quo for the services our community deserves," said Alicia Aleman, Kern County Social Worker and SEIU Local 521 Chapter President in a statement on Wednesday.
For your convenience, the skimmable summary above is generated with the assistance of AI and fact checked by our team prior to publication. Read the full story as originally reported below.
Broadcast transcript:
On Wednesday, it was announced that Kern County and SEIU Local 521 have entered into a tentative employment agreement.
I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter, however some union members say it's not enough.
SEIU Local 521 Chapter President Alicia Aleman sent out this statement yesterday touting the tentative agreement as a win, we'll have the full statement online.
On Thursday we reached out to the union's communications director for an interview, we were asked to email questions, so we did.
We asked about the process for ratifying the new contract, what negotiations were made to the contract that were better for union members, what was the biggest sticking point for members during the negotiations, and what concessions did the union have to make during the negotiations. We sent that off around 12:15 on Thursday afternoon, as of this report we have not heard back.
On Thursday morning, we spoke with County Board of Supervisors Chair Leticia Perez, who said she was proud of SEIU members for fighting for themselves, and said this current agreement is the result of creativity. "There will be no new money unless we have revenue to create that, for example, oil revenue or new sales tax revenue. So there is no new money. There is no magic bullet. Here SEIU was very creative in reconstruction, or rather restructuring the package, and us moving some things around, but ultimately we still stayed within the money that Kern County felt we could afford. And so this is a very good outcome,"
But two county employees and union members say they believe the union didn't act in their best interests when negotiating the new contract. Karen Bussard, a county employee and union member says the current contract is essentially the same one that was presented last year.
"It was not employee friendly. The verbiage is not employee friendly, and actually causes chaos. The offer is 6% plus zero. The initial offer from the county was three plus three plus zero, was essentially the same thing that they offered back of I believe it was October 2024."
Jonah Tilton, a county employee and union member, said he was frustrated by level of communication between union leadership and members, and with the current agreement in place, they should have accepted the offer put forth by the county months ago.
"I think the union puts out a message that they're for their people, they're for the members of their union, but really they're not, because if they were, they would have accepted this deal when it was first offered. I feel like they've taken money out of our pocket by delaying the offer."
That tentative agreement between the union and the county is slated to be voted on by members soon, we'll continue to update you on this story as more information becomes available. In Bakersfield, SH, YNR.
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