A Message From the Local 685 Executive Board

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

A lot’s been said about the 2023 contract. We get it — tensions are high. Probation is under attack from every direction and our bosses – the Chief and his boss, the County Supervisors (the same people who robbed us of due process in writing a $4 billion check to "plaintiffs" of sexual assault - many of whom were apparently paid to join the lawsuit) are trying to defund, civilianize, and privatize our profession (click here to learn more).

There are two things blocking the Board and their appointed Chief from succeeding in their effort to privatize our jobs:

• State law and

• Our civil service protections in our contract.

We have been fighting relentlessly – and winning – in Sacramento, and we continue to fight every day to protect our contract. Have we won on every battle? No. But we’ve held the line where it matters most. The heart and soul of our contract — our promotional, seniority, and bid rights — remain intact.

Looking Back to Set the Record Straight

In 2023, the County came into bargaining swinging, determined to gut our contract and take away our union rights. Article 15 already allowed management the right to make transfers in an emergency, but they wanted the ability to transfer for any reason – or no reason at all.

Our negotiating team faced a hard truth: To save Article 16 — the backbone of our contract, which protects our promotional, seniority, and bid rights — we had to find a way to block management’s grab for unchecked power under Article 15.

Since they already had emergency transfer rights, we made the strategic decision to put guardrails in place. We required that any involuntary transfers be justified by necessity and approved by only the Chief. That’s a win — because it limits what was already a broad power and stops them from transferring us on a whim.

Here’s the bottom line: Collective bargaining is a fight. It’s about give and take. A successful negotiation means both sides walk away a little bruised — but we kept what matters most. The County failed in their push to gut our contract. They did not take our promotional, seniority, or bid rights. We held that line. To do it, we made the hard call to allow reassignment authority only in a valid emergency when absolutely necessary.

Moving Forward - Together

Now, about communication. We could’ve been clearer in the summary we sent out. We own that. And we’re going to do better. No argument there.

But let’s also be real: We can’t keep turning our fire on each other while the County is coming for us from every direction. That’s exactly what the Supervisors and the Chief want — a divided union that’s too busy fighting itself to fight them.

So hear this: it’s time to move forward — together. Let’s put our energy where it counts: defending our safety, our jobs, and our future.

We are one union. One voice. And we’re done letting fights distract us from the battles we are facing.

In solidarity,

Your Local 685 Executive Board