FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KMPH) -
The SEUI represents about 4,100 of the county's 6,000 employees.
If they strike Monday morning, a number of social programs could have problems.
"With 4,100 people in this union, you should see social services come to a halt; you should see the correctional facility struggle to pay ungodly amounts of overtime to cover positions," Kevin Westbrook, SEIU member and corrections officer, said.
They're upset over a 9% pay cut and what the union calls "unfair labor practices" by the county.
Supervisor Phil Larson says he understands the frustration.
"With a 15 ½% unemployment rate in the city of Fresno and 35% to 40% on the West Side, there's a lot of people who want jobs. And I know they say, well our jobs are special. They are. They're all very special. But nobody is indispensable," Larson said.
"For those of us that are left standing at the end of the day, what's the point of having a job if it doesn't pay the house, if it doesn't keep food on the table?" Westbrook said.
If the more than 300 corrections officers do decide to protest, that means there will be no one to guard the inmates at the Fresno County Jail.
So someone has to step in.
"In the jail, it's not like an office where you can just hang out a closed sign. We have to operate that. We have to provide the inmates with people that guard them 24/7," Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said.
Mims says she'll bring in off-duty deputies to cover for striking corrections officers without depleting her resources in the field.
All other non-union workers in other departments will have to fill those voids too.
"I will be bringing those people in mostly on overtime to work those shifts. So it will impact our already stressed budget," Mims said.
"The savings they've had since the pay cut has been proposed should be enough to cover any overtime," Westbrook said.
Westbrook says he hopes to avoid all that by reaching some kind of agreement before the strike.
But the county says come Monday, it will be business as usual, with or without union workers.
Supervisors say over the last five years, most county workers have received pay increases, some of up to 21%.
But the union says those increases have all been given back through furloughs.
Fresno County officials have ordered all public libraries to close next week in anticipation of the strike.
