Marin unions use new law to seek higher wages

A new state law has enabled Marin County workers to lobby the county for better pay.

Assembly Bill 2561 requires that local public agencies present the status of vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts during a public hearing before their governing board at least once every fiscal year. The hearing must come before the adoption of the agency’s final budget.

The law was passed because of the concern of legislators about the increasing reliance of public employers on a contingent, part-time, temporary workforce and contractors. AB 2561 contains additional reporting requirements if the agency has a bargaining unit whose job vacancies meet or exceed 20% of the full-time positions.

In that case, the agency must disclose the number of job vacancies and applicants for vacant positions within the unit. The agency must also state the average number of days to complete the hiring process from when a position is posted and outline opportunities to improve compensation and other working conditions.

Marin held its first hearing under the new law this month.

“It’s incredibly important that we have these hearings prior to adoption of the budget, so that we can understand how the short staffing is impacting community services and employee burnout,” said Susanna Farber, an attorney representing Teamsters Union Local 856, which represents county probation workers.

Christina Cramer, Marin County’s employment director, told supervisors at the May 6 hearing that the vacancy rate in March for county probation officers represented by Teamsters Local 856 was 21%, down from 25.8% in September 2024. The job classes represented by the bargaining unit are deputy probation officers and juvenile correctional officers.

That compares with a 9.5% vacancy rate among all county employees.

Regarding the probation unit’s vacancy rate, Cramer said, “I do want to point out that this vacancy rate is not unique. This seems to be a challenge in some of the other counties as well.”

Cramer said that during the same time period, San Mateo County had a 40% vacancy rate among its probation employees, Alameda County had a 25% vacancy rate and Contra Costa County had a 16% rate.

An average of 133 days elapsed between the time a position became vacant in the probation unit and when an offer was accepted, she said. That compared to 73 days for all county employees.

Cramer said there is a reason why it takes so much longer to hire probation employees.

“These are law enforcement positions,” she said. “They require a very thorough backgrounding process.”

As of the middle of April, the county employed 2,369 people. Seventy-six percent had been with the county for fewer than five years and 32% joined fewer than three years ago. In 2024, the county had an 8.2% turnover rate.

“We do like to see that ratio be less than 10%, ideally more in the 5% to 7% range, but it’s not alarming,” Cramer said.

Cramer stressed that pay isn’t the only factor employees consider when deciding where to work.

“There are multiple studies that demonstrate that the retention factors that keep an employee working for an organization are multifaceted,” Cramer said.

She said an employee might leave a job because of a lack of respect, a lack of feedback, a lack of a sense of belonging, burnout or a lack of growth opportunities.

She cited a Boston Consulting Group study that found that emotional needs are a big part of retention.

Union representatives disagreed.

Timothy Mathews, a Teamsters researcher, said, “Yes, it’s multifaceted, but really the driver is take-home pay. Money is what keeps people in their jobs in Marin County.”

Cramer said the deputy probation officers and juvenile correctional officers received a 5% equity pay increase in 2024, but Mathews said, “We told them that 5% was not going to be even a small Band-Aid on people leaving. I had seven experienced deputy probation officers walk out the door within weeks.”

Josh Swedberg, the county’s budget director, said in an email that probation employees represented by Teamsters Local 856 are paid an average salary of about $110,000 to $120,000 a year.

Cramer said that from 2018 to 2024, the cost of living adjustments that the county gave its employees lagged the increase in the consumer price index by 5.5%.

County Executive Derek Johnson said that many of the issues raised would have to be dealt with at the bargaining table with county employee unions. Contract negotiations are ongoing.

“If you really want to retain and recruit employees, you need to pay more than the median, and you need to make sure employees pay less for health care,” said Rollie Katz, executive director of the Marin Association of Public Employees. “Marin County employees need a big raise.”