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Job & Family Services employees urge county to return to bargaining; commissioners criticized
Summary
Multiple Job & Family Services employees and union members addressed the board during public comment, saying agency operations are impaired by staffing and compensation issues and urging the commissioners to return to collective-bargaining talks; speakers also criticized county transparency on budgets and use of reserve funds.
A series of public commenters told commissioners March 13 that Job & Family Services (JFS) operations and clients are suffering amid a labor dispute and that bargaining has not proceeded in good faith. Several speakers described problems with remote-work policies, call-center access, and the agency's handling of Medicaid and SNAP applications.
Shauna Hatfield said the agency is not functioning as it should and accused the board of failing employees: "I have lost all faith in any of you having any compassion for any member of this community, especially the employees and definitely not JFS employees as we are the lowest paid agency in the county." Gina Jones, a JFS employee and union member, and others said they have been on the picket line for weeks and urged the commissioners to send a bargaining representative capable of making decisions so negotiations can conclude and employees return to work. Speakers cited awards won while staff operated remotely, disputed claims that staff are idle, and raised concerns about supervisor overtime allocations and payroll priorities.
Commissioners acknowledged they would revisit bargaining decisions; Commissioner Moore noted earlier discussions about whether assistant prosecutors needed to attend meetings. There was no formal board action recorded on the union dispute during the meeting.
