Supervisors Approve Deal with Deputies Union

RIVERSIDE - Riverside County supervisors today tentatively approved a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the union representing sheriff's deputies, who will be required to pay more toward their own pensions but will receive annual cost-of-living adjustments and salary increases at the same time.

County Department of Human Resources negotiators and representatives from the 2,500-member Riverside Sheriffs Association ironed out a deal last month that includes pension plan changes to lower the county's overall employee retirement expenditures over the next 10 years.

''I appreciate the change in direction at RSA and our recently being able to conclude good, two-sided negotiations to come up with a reasonable contract,'' said Supervisor John Benoit. ''There's a huge change in the retirement system for new hires ... The efforts of the new leadership and all the efforts of (RSA) members are appreciated.''

According to the county Executive Office, the labor pact establishes a ''second-tier'' defined-benefit plan for newly hired deputies, whose pension formula will be 2 percent at 50 -- meaning compensation will be determined based on 2 percent of the average of the three highest-paid years of an employee's career, multiplied by the number of years on the job.

The minimum eligible age to collect benefits will be 50.

The pension formula for existing employees will remain 3 percent at 50 under the contract, according to county Executive Office documents.

Under the agreement, all RSA members will be required to pay their full share of employee contributions into the California Public Employee Retirement System. Currently, only new hires have to cover their PERS contribution costs, which consist of 9 percent of gross earnings.

The compact calls for phasing in contributions for existing employees, who will begin paying their full share in July 2013. The county previously picked up employee retirement contributions -- on top of the employer match -- for law enforcement employees under contracts going back a decade, but mounting costs have made that practice unsustainable.

Board of Supervisors Chairman John Tavaglione noted that the pension plan modifications, combined with similar changes made to other unions' contracts, would net a cumulative $850 million savings to the county over the next decade.

''I think the most important thing from my standpoint ... is this is a four-year contract,'' Supervisor Bob Buster said. ''It gives us some certainty about the future. That's what we're groping for here.''

To offset the hit to deputies' pocketbooks from pension obligations, the county will provide cost-of-living adjustments totaling 9 percent between July 2013 and July 2015. Merit pay increases capped at 2.71 percent annually will also be restored after being frozen for the last year due to a breakdown in negotiations between the RSA and county, which prompted the latter to impose terms and conditions on the bargaining unit.

With the COLAs, wage hikes and boosts in vacation and medical allowances, the four-year contract will cost $106 million, according to county officials.

Tavaglione and Supervisor Jeff Stone acknowledged RSA President Robert Masson, who attended but did not speak during the board meeting. Stone praised him as a ''proven leader'' who had improved RSA ''in a very short time.''

Masson, a sheriff's homicide investigator, was elected by the union rank- and-file last November, replacing former RSA President Pat McNamara.

The county declared a deadlock in contract talks with RSA in May 2011, after months of negotiations between the deputies' union and county representatives went nowhere.

The new agreement stipulates that the RSA drop pending legal actions against the county alleging unfair labor practices. The dispute stems from the November 2010 election, when the union and county had competing measures on the ballot.

The union's measure would have mandated that a majority of county voters approve changes to public safety employees' retirement plans. The county measure, which prevailed, left the Board of Supervisors as the final authority.

The contract will be formally approved in the next month after lingering ''non-substantive'' issues, including contract language, are resolved.