Hands Off Our Pay: Union Takes Action Over 5.5% Bonus

Special Message From Marva Lindsey, Institutions Vice President

Brothers and Sisters,

What is happening right now at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall is unacceptable, and your Union is not backing down.

On December 11, 2025, Probation HR claimed it was notified by a Special Assistant at Los Padrinos that, as of August 31, 2025, there were no pre-disposition SYTF youth housed at the facility. Based on that claim alone, the Department (falsely) decided that as of Sept. 1, employees were no longer eligible for the 5.5% assignment bonus tied to 496 SYTF work.

That claim is wrong. The action that followed is worse.

Without notifying the Union, without meeting and conferring, and without conducting a proper investigation, the Department moved to strip the bonus from every affected employee at Los Padrinos. Payroll has already calculated what it alleges are “overpayments” and has begun the process of taking money back from your current paychecks.

This is a direct violation of the Memorandum of Understanding and basic due process.

Let’s be clear about the facts and the fight ahead.

Officers at LP continue to work with high-risk, pre-disposition youth. The population did not magically change because someone sent an inaccurate email. The work did not get safer. The risk did not disappear.

The Department was not present when this language was negotiated. It does not get to rewrite the contract after the fact. During bargaining, County CEO labor relations understood exactly what Article 41, Section 3 was intended to do: compensate employees working in Compound assignments or other equivalent placements involving pre-adjudicated youth. LP squarely fits that intent.

The Department’s own Employment Relations and Special Assistant got this wrong. Their interpretation of Article 41, Section 3 is incorrect. Worse, management acted unilaterally by stopping the 5.5 percent bonus for 496 employees without notifying the Union or engaging in required meet-and-confer.

Now the Department has gone even further by attempting to claw back wages it claims were overpaid. It did this without a proper investigation, without notice to CEO Employee Relations, and without giving employees or the Union a chance to be heard. That is a violation of County policy and state law. Taking earned compensation without due process is not just bad labor relations. It is unlawful.

Members at LP are asking questions. They deserve answers. They deserve respect. They deserve their pay.

Your Union is demanding an immediate meeting with the Department. We are challenging this action at every level. If the Department refuses to correct its mistake, we are prepared to proceed to arbitration, and to pursue litigation if necessary. We will not allow management to set a precedent where they can strip negotiated compensation and take money out of your paycheck based on a misrepresentation and zero process.

This is not about a technicality. This is about fairness, safety, and respect for the work you do every day under extraordinarily difficult conditions. When the County sends you into high-risk assignments, the County must honor the contract it signed.

We are united. We are prepared. And we will fight this.

In solidarity,

Marva Lindsey

Institutions Vice President