{"id":381311,"date":"2026-06-30T22:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381311\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T22:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:51:14","slug":"oc-leaders-praise-labor-for-4th-of-july-skip-raises-for-workers-but-not-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381311\/","title":{"rendered":"OC Leaders Praise Labor for 4th of July, Skip Raises For Workers But Not Themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of county employees flocked to the parking lot outside their offices for free hot dogs this week to celebrate the coming 250th anniversary of the Fourth of July. But most skipped speeches from county supervisors about the importance of their work amid tense labor negotiations offering workers no raises.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A line forms as county employees wait to receive free hot dogs while county leaders speak from a podium near the Board hearing room during the county\u2019s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Fourth of July on Monday, June 29, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

\u201cToday our county family celebrates the 250th anniversary with the best hot dogs in Orange County,\u201d said Supervisor Doug Chaffee at a Monday rally in the heart of the county civic center. \u201cI hope our county family remembers their impact and central role in building America.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"250th Fourth of July celebration at the Orange County Civic Center in Santa Ana on Monday, June 29, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

The speeches come as supervisors are reportedly telling workers across the county, including the OC Employees Association, the Teamsters Local 952 and the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, that there\u2019s no room for raises in the budget even after they gave themselves a 25% raise last year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[Read: OC Supervisors Say It\u2019s Illegal to Slash Their Salary Hikes<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not asking for the 25% that they received,\u201d said Iriss Barriga, a member of the OC Employees Association bargaining committee. \u201cIf we\u2019re not here, who\u2019s going to be doing the work? The board of supervisors aren\u2019t coming in to do that. Other people aren\u2019t going to do that. Our members deserve fair wages.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Iriss Barriga, a Senior Child Support Specialist and a member of the OC Employees Association bargaining committee stands for a portrait during the 250th anniversary of the Fourth of July on Monday, June 29, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

This year, county leaders disclosed they\u2019re facing a $75 million structural deficit, meaning their recurring income is falling short of their recurring expenses and they\u2019re tapping into reserves for the fourth year in a row.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve also helped balance the budget with the use of what county senior staff call \u201cone-time funds\u201d a term county supervisors never publicly explained before they voted on the budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the budget was approved, county spokesperson Molly Nichelson responded to Voice of OC questions clarifying that most of the funding came from internal reserves and a couple million dollars of interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[Read: Orange County Leaders Warn of Dangerous Budget Future<\/a>]<\/p>\n

County leaders are also hammering out details of a retirement package they plan to offer to roughly 2,000 senior employees that would let them retire early and close out their position leaving the county with a smaller staff pool than its current workforce of over 18,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Erick Castellanos, a member of the OC employee association\u2019s bargaining committee and an investigator for the Alternate Defender\u2019s office, said the current state of things is \u201cdisheartening.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Erick Castellanos, middle, a member of the Orange County Employees Association bargaining committee and an investigator with the Alternate Defender\u2019s Office, applauds during remarks at the county\u2019s 250th Fourth of July celebration at the Orange County Civic Center in Santa Ana on Monday, June 29, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are told we do excellent work. We provide excellent services for the residents of Orange County but unfortunately the county is not willing to offer us excellent wages or benefits,\u201d Castellanos said in an interview. \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful they\u2019ll come around and realize the value of county workers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barriga also highlighted a series of concerns over the retirement plan, noting that it could drive up the county\u2019s unfunded pension liability and increase worker burnout.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCounty employees are disappointed and they feel overstretched,\u201d Barriga said. \u201cSome of the case workers there at child support have about 2,800 cases per person. They\u2019re definitely going to be impacted by having a 10% drop of people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Castellanos also highlighted that impact, pointing out that in the past, county retirement offers have led to departments having large vacancies for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shrinks the workforce but it does not shrink the workload,\u201d Castellanos said. \u201cThere\u2019s a sentiment of people feeling overwhelmed, overworked, stressed out, close to burnt out, and that coupled with the fact that the county\u2019s offering zero wage building options? It\u2019s upsetting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not the only union raising complaints.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Teamsters Local 952 union which represents employees throughout Public Works, Waste and Recycling, and OC Community Resources, also flagged concerns, pointing out their contract ended on June 25 yet there\u2019s no end in sight to negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur members are the backbone of many of the services that keep Orange County running every day,\u201d said Teamsters Local 952 Secretary Treasurer Eric Jimenez in a statement dated May 27. \u201cWe remain committed to negotiating in good faith.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Samuel Carlin, a business agent for the Teamsters, also noted that the county has in the past not paid employees their missed wages when contracts expire and are later renegotiated with raises.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are notorious for not paying retroactive wage increases,\u201d Carlin said in a Monday interview. \u201cWe know better because of the last cycle and prior OCTA negotiations and Teamsters 952 isn\u2019t going to wait and wait.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an issue that most county supervisors don\u2019t want to discuss publicly heading into their summer vacation, with their next public meeting currently not scheduled until August.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supervisor Chaffee was the only one who spoke to the issue after his speech, declining to speak on any specifics but said supervisors offered \u201ca number of adjustments\u201d including another holiday. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Orange County Supervisor Doug Chaffee speaks during the county\u2019s 250th celebration of the Fourth of July. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not exactly zero. My expectation is we\u2019ll try to find raises when we can,\u201d Chaffee said. \u201cI\u2019ve asked for information from our finance people on how far can we go without laying people off. That\u2019s kind of the edge we\u2019re on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also defended his own raise, saying he\u2019s donated more than his own salary to charity over the past year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI donated more than my entire salary to various causes,\u201c Chaffee said. \u201cIt\u2019s something I can do more with, that\u2019s all I can say.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both Chafee and Vicente Sarmiento both donated their raise<\/a> to charity after a public backlash last year against supervisors for granting themselves a pay boost with virtually no public debate.<\/p>\n

Three other supervisors \u2013 Don Wagner, Janet Nguyen and Katrina Foley \u2013 kept the raise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[Read: Orange County Supervisors Now Make More Than California\u2019s Governor<\/a>]\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supervisor Katrina Foley\u2013 who voted against her own raise last year but also kept the money \u2013 praised the \u201ccounty family\u201d in her speech, praising labor unions and their ability to give people the American dream.<\/p>\n

\"\"Supervisor Katrina Foley holds up an American flag during her remarks at the 250th anniversary of the Fourth of July on Monday, June 29, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that as the daughter of a painters union representative, as the wife of a teacher, that the union and labor has brought strength to our family. Stability to our family,\u201d Foley said. \u201cThank you to labor, thank you for continuing to represent all that is good about America.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, her ongoing reelection campaign has received over half a million dollars combined in advertising from various county employee unions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[Read: OC\u2019s Most Competitive Races For The June Primary Election<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento also praised the unions in his speech, saying \u201cworkers built this country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also declined an interview request at the event, but issued a short statement Monday afternoon on the importance of continuing at the bargaining table.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento speaks during the county\u2019s 250th Fourth of July celebration at the Orange County Civic Center in Santa Ana on Monday, June 29, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to work more aggressively with our employee representatives to see what we can accomplish working together and creatively to address the very real concerns of our employees,\u201d Sarmiento wrote. \u201cI believe we have a long way to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supervisors Don Wagner and Janet Nguyen did not attend Monday\u2019s event and did not respond to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

OC Employees Association General Manager Charles Barfield and Nick Berardino, the former OCEA general manager and current head of the Veterans Alliance of Orange County that helped put on the event, both gave speeches praising workers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Nick Berardino, the former OCEA general manager and current head of the Veterans Alliance of Orange County. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you county employees, all of you who do so much,\u201d Berardino said. \u201cWhen times were sad and bad in 1994 when the county declared bankruptcy, it was the county employees who stood up. The county employees who fought and went without so this county would be what it is today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"OC Employees Association General Manager Charles Barfield speaks during the county\u2019s 250th Fourth of July celebration at the Orange County Civic Center in Santa Ana on Monday, June 29, 2026. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica was not built by words alone. It was built by workers,\u201d Barfield said. \u201cThe history of labor in America is a story of courage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org. <\/p>\n

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