Though we feel public servants who work hard deserve good pay and benefits, the underlying issue here also revolves around a serious shortage of funding the rapidly shrinking county (due to recent successful and pending incorporations) will have for even the most basic service, including that of properly providing maintenance for the Parkway, which it hasn’t done for years.
This continuing struggle is why we are calling for a nonprofit organization to contract with local government to manage the Parkway and help with the fund raising, as is being done locally with the Sacramento Zoo and in New York with Central Park.
Meanwhile the struggle workers go through for pay and benefits continues.
An excerpt.
County workers set for a strike
Managers say they are ready, too. At issue is the cost of medical coverage.
By Todd Milbourn -- Bee Staff WriterPublished 12:01 am PDT Sunday, September 3, 2006
About a dozen Sacramento County workers shuffled about a union hall Saturday afternoon, making picket signs and discussing why they plan to strike Tuesday.
Medical coverage has emerged as the key sticking point in reaching agreement on a new contract, and both sides are preparing for a job action that appears increasingly likely.
Barring a last-minute breakthrough, about 7,500 county workers will strike. Among them will be Mark Hill, a 41-year-old from Sacramento who works as a maintenance specialist on the county's underground pipelines.
"For the health coverage they're offering, I don't know if I can afford to live here," Hill said.
Steve Lakich, the county's chief negotiator, takes a different view.
"We think we've made reasonable offers, and some people don't agree with us," he said.
Sandra Poole, spokeswoman for the union representing office staff and welfare workers, said county officials have told her to send her negotiating team home. Lakich acknowledged that no new negotiations were scheduled but said he remains hopeful.
Meanwhile, the county is preparing for picket lines.
