IV attorney’s association planning to strike on Tuesday
The Imperial County Deputy District Attorney’s Association will begin an Unfair Labor Practices strike on Tuesday.
The ICDDA said this strike has been provoked by the County of Imperial’s failure to negotiate in good faith. It said the county refuses to fairly bargain with the ICDDAA as a separate bargaining unit by declaring that all bargaining units will be offered a 2.2 percent raise, without exception.
ICDDA said the county refuses to consider or even acknowledge the ICDDAA members’ poor working conditions, which are the direct result of an inability to recruit and retain qualified attorneys.
ICDDA also alleged that the county has failed to provide a rationale for the 2.2 percent offer, outside of, “every bargaining unit is offered the same.” ICDDA said the statement that every bargaining unit will be offered the same 2.2 percent salary increase has been repeated at each negotiations meeting.
The ICDDA believes that this pattern bargaining is an unfair negotiation practice, because each unit does not face the same challenges. On numerous occasions, ICDDAA members, the District Attorney, and the Assistant District attorney have attempted to explain to the County that our current inability to recruit and retain qualified attorneys is detrimental to working conditions. The shortage of deputy district attorneys means that the fifteen (15) deputies remaining at the District Attorney’s office are forced to perform the work of twenty one (21) attorneys.
ICDDA said that as prosecutors, they have particular ethical and legal duties. They believe that the excessive caseload managed by each deputy increases the likelihood of mistakes, which could quite literally subject them, individually, to State Bar discipline.
They said competent management of this volume of work requires nights, weekends and holidays.
The ICDDAA hopes that this strike will bring light to the situation and encourage Imperial County to return to the bargaining table with a fair offer that reflects a consideration of the ICDDAA’s unique needs.
