COUNTY ATTORNEYS ENDORSE WAGE DEAL.Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer Ending two years of often bitter negotiation, Ventura county prosecutors and public defenders public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was have reached a tentative settlement with the county in a divisive di·vi·sive adj. Creating dissension or discord. di·vi  sive·ly adv.di·vi pay dispute. The agreement, which must still be approved by the county board of supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. , does not include a significant pay hike, said Stephen Silver Stephen Silver (born August 30, 1972 in London, England, UK) is a professional artist, cartoonist and character designer. He is best known as the lead character designer for animated series such as Kim Possible and Danny Phantom. , attorney for the Criminal Justice Attorneys Association of Ventura. But the agreement establishes a working relationship between the county and the union, which formed in 1993 after lawyers complained that salaries had stagnated and fallen far behind those in surrounding counties. ``It resolves a lot of hard feelings,'' said Silver. ``The county wasn't happy that these attorneys left management and decided to exercise their collective bargaining collective bargaining, in labor relations, procedure whereby an employer or employers agree to discuss the conditions of work by bargaining with representatives of the employees, usually a labor union. rights. And our people weren't happy that the county appeared to punish them for doing that.'' The supervisors are scheduled to review the agreement on Feb. 4, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. County Personnel Director Ron Kommers. Criminal justice lawyers argue they should be paid as much as the county's civil lawyers. Prosecutors in the District Attorney's Office make $33,774 for an entry-level position to $79,222 for a senior attorney. Strained contract talks fell apart in December of 1995 when public defenders walked out of the county courthouse, leaving six defense attorneys to perform the work of 40. Then last September, attorneys lodged a lawsuit that accused the county of attempting to bust the union to deter other employees from organizing. Attorneys agreed to shelve shelve v. shelved, shelv·ing, shelves v.tr. 1. To place or arrange on a shelf. 2. the lawsuit as part of the agreement, Silver said. County officials, who took a staunch stand during public hearings last year, said they were happy the debate has moved from the courtroom back to the negotiating table. ``It's been a very difficult time, but I'm glad we've reached a point where we agree,'' said County Supervisor Frank Schillo. ``Whenever a new union starts up, there's always a learning curve. I think we've reached an appropriate settlement.'' But while deputy attorneys in the 140-member union appear satisfied with the deal, some longtime and high-level county attorneys are poised to split from the fledgling union. The county Civil Service Commission meets today to review a petition requesting that the county deal with senior attorneys separately as management. The agreement requires that the county examine and report on attorney pay in other counties, said Silver, but it does not require that the county raise salaries accordingly. ``We're still underpaid un·der·paid v. Past tense and past participle of underpay. underpaid Adjective not paid as much as the job deserves underpaid adj → , but we'll take management on good faith and assume that they will do something about it when they see the numbers,'' Silver said. |
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