Members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 620 — which represents 1,850 county workers ranging from public defenders and custodians to maintenance workers and clerical staff — were granted a new contract this week after a 4-1 vote from the Board of Supervisors. The union had been negotiating with the county before its previous contract expired last year. Good through July 2016, the new contract includes changes such as doing away with freezes on merit step increases and allowing a 2 percent wage increase starting this month, and one percent increases in June 2014 and July 2015; the increases come after years of furloughs and prior cuts of certain compensations.
