Striking lawyers agree to ‘ceasefire’ with Sacramento County, return to work through Tuesday

Striking Sacramento County prosecutors and public defenders returned to work Friday in what their union called a “pause” in labor action so the two sides can continue negotiations on a new contract.

Matt Chisholm, president of the Sacramento County Lawyers Association, said Friday that the pause went into effect at noon. It comes two weeks into a strike by hundreds of attorneys who work for Sacramento County. If no agreement is reached by Tuesday morning, Chisholm said the strike will resume.

“The county and the union have agreed to a pause, so that both sides will hopefully have an opportunity to exchange offers and end this labor action,” Chisholm said.

County spokeswoman Kim Nava confirmed the work stoppage had been halted.

“The County is pleased to welcome back our attorneys and is committed to engaging in constructive discussions to resolve the outstanding issues,” she said. “This step marks a positive development and we look forward to working collaboratively with the SCAA to reach a mutually beneficial resolution.”

Nearly half of the union’s roughly 400 lawyers have been demonstrating since the strike began Aug. 26 to protest a county pay offer they say is misleading and inadequate. The offer, which calls for a 14.5 percent raise over three years, includes cost-of-living increases that the union says are not enough to offset inflation, and ties another increase to a reduction in some retirement benefits.

The union is demanding a 5.5 percent annual raise that includes one year of retroactive pay.

Also this week, the union filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the county, saying negotiators failed to consider the results of a Public Employee Relations Board investigative report that supported some of the union’s demands, including a 5.5 percent increase in what’s called pay equity, separate from cost-of-living increases.

The county acknowledged receiving the complaint but did not comment on it.

John Stoller, a union spokesman and chief deputy public defender, called the pause a “ceasefire” and said it did not indicate the labor action had been resolved.