Members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 3, have won a 10% raise following the ratification of an agreement reached with the Plumas County Board of Supervisors May 13.
The memorandum of understanding, adopted unanimously, affects around 45 county employees. They work in the behavioral, public and environmental health departments; facilities, treasurer/tax collector and agriculture departments; the district attorney’s office; and the county fair department.
The 10% raise is scheduled to start with the pay period beginning May 18. Members of the bargaining unit will also receive a $2,000 one-time lump sum payment.
Joshua Mizrahi, interim human resources director appointed Jan. 27, presented the agreement to the supervisors via Zoom after working for several months to refine the terms. Supervisor Mimi Hall thanked him for his efforts.
“We didn’t have much progress on this when you were appointed. Your ability to be flexible has contributed to this MOU,” Hall said.
Other bargaining agreements have expired
The IUOE is one of several bargaining units representing Plumas County employees. The agreements negotiated with five of the units expired Dec. 31, 2024. Most of the others expire June 30..
Hall said she hopes the MOU reached with Operating Engineers is just the most recent of raises for Plumas County employees. She and other county officials are working on a comprehensive salary survey that would bring all county workers up to “something close to a living wage,” she said.
“Ten percent is just 10%… There’s more to come,” said Hall.
Plumas County’s elected officials, including the five supervisors, received a 10% pay raise in February 2022, their first in 15 years. The supervisors approved additional raises in June 2022 for all county department heads. And on Oct. 10, 2023, they authorized a 20% across-the-board pay increase for Sheriff’s Office employees.
In addition to the raise and $2,000 one-time lump sum payment, the Operating Engineers’ MOU includes longevity pay steps after 24 and 27 years. It also makes changes to sick leave, compensatory time off, bereavement pay and vacation buy-back benefits. The deputy agriculture commissioner / sealer of weights and measures position is now eligible for boot allowance to safety equipment needed to perform the job.
Delay in county counsel appointment
The supervisors were poised May 13 to appoint Interim County Counsel Joshua Brechtel as county counsel but they hit a bump in the procedural road: They provided no information in the agenda materials to accompany the proposed resolution.
Members of the public and The Plumas Sun pointed out the lack of backup information, required for board action, as a potential Brown Act violation. Board Chairman Kevin Goss tabled the resolution.
Plumas County has not had a permanently appointed county counsel since the resignation of Gretchen Stuhr in July 2023.
