Orange County CSEA Employees Voice Contract Concerns at Legislative Meeting

A dozen or so county probation and social services department employees spoke for better wages and benefits at the legislature meeting on Feb. 1 amid the ongoing CSEA contract negotiations. CSEA, or Civil Service Employees Association, is Orange County’s largest union and has about 1,350 rank-and-file members—more than half the county workforce. This is the first CSEA contract negotiation after the COVID-19 pandemic—the last five-year agreement expired in December—and came at a time of rising cost of living and a public sector plagued by a recruiting crisis, according to CSEA southern region spokesperson Jessica Ladlee. It also came after the county government received a handsome pandemic stimulus payment from the federal government, with about a fifth of it, or $16 million, earmarked for personnel costs....