Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Imperial County labor talks stall as employees and union reject county's last offer
Summary
Teamsters Local 542 members and county employees urged higher pay at the July 8 Imperial County Board of Supervisors meeting after the union rejected the county's most recent offer; county public information officer reiterated the county's 6% proposal and stressed long-term fiscal concerns.
Imperial County Board of Supervisors members heard a series of public comments July 8 from county employees and union representatives criticizing the county's recent contract proposal for Teamsters Local 542 and warning of a possible strike.
The issue erupted into public view during the board's public-comment period, where several county employees described morale problems and what they called unfair top-level pay decisions. Charlene Bayat, who said she has worked for the county 14 years, told supervisors: "We are the backbone of this county." She said rank-and-file members rejected the county's most recent offer by a 92% vote in June 2025.
The county's public-information officer, Eddie Lopez, read an official county…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
