Hundreds of Sacramento County court employees from five buildings did not go to work on Tuesday. The action caused courtrooms to postpone cases and the entire system to bring in temporary workers to fill the void.
Ted Somera with the United Public Employees union says it is seeking a cost-of-living increase of about 3 percent for a group, which has been doing more work since 2010. He also says the number of workers at front counters and inside courtrooms has been downsized.
“To be at 411, at one time we had 500 and something,” Somera said. “In post-2010, we were close to 600 employees.”
The union is the court system’s largest and says the average employee makes about $24 per hour. About 350 of the 411 employees did not go to work at the system’s five court buildings.
Courts’ spokeswoman Kim Pedersen say temporary employees with training have been hired to help keep the counters and some of the courtrooms open. Some cases would be dropped if defendants are unable to get a speedy trial.
Judges are going through their cases to identify which ones must continue and be delayed.
Both sides say they are hopeful the strike lasts only today.
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Comments