By Khalida Sarwari
Social workers turned up in droves tonight at the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors meeting to plead that their jobs and services be given fair consideration as the board prepares to finalize its 2012 fiscal year recommended budget.
In May, Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith recommended a $4 billion budget that addresses a $219.6 million deficit in the county’s general fund through program and service cuts, use of one-time revenue and layoffs.
The board is holding hearings on the 2012 budget this week before taking final actions to adopt the budget on Friday.
Tonight, hundreds of social workers, some with children in tow, many wearing purple to signify their membership to the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union, came to the meeting to voice their frustrations with the county.
The county has asked all workers to take a 6 percent pay cut, contribute an additional 7 percent — on top of an existing 6 percent — to a retirement fund, take six furlough days, give up four paid holidays, and accept cuts to medical benefits, according to Kathleen Stahr, a social works supervisor who lives in San Jose.
The county expects to generate $75 million in savings from the concessions, $2.2 million of which would come from reductions in the Social Services Agency.
Roseann Berthron-Arechiga, a San Jose resident and eligibility worker, was one of myriad speakers who told the board front-line workers are being targeted for the deepest cuts.
“Equal cuts for everyone is not equal when the burden is not equally shared,” she said. “The average pay — not including benefits or other compensation — for an SEIU-represented county worker is $60,167 compared to $150,000 for an executive manager.”
She said for a worker who makes about $60,000, it would mean a $9,000 cut, a loss that would cause hardship for families.
Stahr said the impact of the proposed cuts would be detrimental in numerous ways.
“It’s a challenging area of work. If we’re already losing workers to Sutter Health and Kaiser, with the proposed pay cuts and benefits, it’ll make it a lot more challenging to attract qualified social workers,” she said.
Stahr said the cuts and increased workload would result in higher caseloads, which in turn would lead to lawsuits, withholding of state and federal funds due to failed audits, and ultimately an increase in child injury and deaths.
On Wednesday afternoon, the board is expected to hold a hearing related to the budget for public safety and justice and housing, land use, environment and transportation.