To the communities adjacent to the Lower Reach of the American River Parkway who have been pleading with the county to stop wide-spread illegal camping and the Parkway crime it generates, so they can use the Parkway safely, the county has been on strike for years.
An excerpt.
County faces service crisis
Thousands set to walk off jobs today
By Gilbert Chan and Phillip Reese -- Bee Staff Writers Published 12:01 am PDT Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Thousands of Sacramento County workers plan to form picket lines today, potentially bringing government business to a crawl.
The largest county employee strike in decades could mean delays for title companies ready to record time-sensitive loan documents, later trash collection and rescheduled visits by social workers, among other things. It also could put a financial pinch on county workers who are walking off the job without pay or the safety net of a strike fund.
Yet union leaders say employees are prepared to start walking picket lines during this morning's commute, wielding signs at more than 100 county offices stretching from Sacramento International Airport to southern Sacramento County. About half of the county's work force of 14,000 could be on strike.
The strike affects only county-run offices. Government workers for the cities of Sacramento, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Galt, Isleton and Rancho Cordova are not affected.
"Nobody wants to go on strike," said Judy Steinke, representative for a 700-member local of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. But "nothing's new. No one has called us to come to the table."
County officials late Monday vowed to keep all public counters open and to shift supervisors and employees not represented by unions to areas hardest hit by the walkout.
Megan MacPherson, a county spokeswoman, said urgent services such as emergency food stamps, child protection and code enforcement will be covered.
Sheriff's deputies will be at work, too. They aren't legally permitted to strike.
"The people on the job are going to be making assessments throughout the day to determine what the needs are," MacPherson said. "We're not going to be quick to return calls on non-urgency calls."
How long the strike will last is unclear.
By 11 p.m. Monday, only two of the county's 26 bargaining units had reached an agreement. On Monday, negotiators for the Professional Association of Engineers and Architects signed off on a tentative pact for about 250 workers. Terms were not disclosed.
