There was a sea of purple shirts in the Board Chambers. The people wearing these purple shirts were all supporters and people represented by SEIU 1021, a union that bargains on behalf of Del Norte County employees.

After the Consent Agenda concluded at the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, several employees of the County confronted the Board of Supervisors. The volley opened with Norma Williams, Chapter President of the SEIU 1021 branch for Del Norte County.

“We were told, our negotiation team was told recently, that you would not consider double-digit raises for our unit,” Williams said. “The largest unit of employees who provide the majority of services here in the County. We were told that we would have to wait until next year — is that really fair? Because by asking us to wait, you’re asking the people we serve to wait.”

Williams cited huge caseloads and unanswered phone calls, causing many of these cases to become backlogged. Some children will go without formula, and the judicial system is clogged from the amount of cases to overworked public servants. Many of the employees qualify for the benefits they are providing others due to how low their wages are she said. Many people complain that their roads don’t get fixed and the county doesn’t do anything, and part of the reason roads go unpaved is that the workers are not being paid a commensurate wage to the work they do.

“It seems to [a county employee] that all you do, is just have all of our classifications and departments in a little hat, and then you pick whichever classification or branch or department you want to benefit that month, while you leave the rest of us twisting in the wind.” Williams stated to the Board. “By doing that to us, you’re doing that to them, our community.”

Following her remarks came more testimony from Del Norte County employees, ranging from an office tech at the Public Health Branch to a reading of a statement from a remote worker within the Child Support department. A through-line could be seen through all of the statements: “We are overworked and underpaid.”

Hopes are not looking high for the members of SEIU 1021’s local chapter, as the compensation study kicks their concerns down the road for the next five months. This timeline comes from a conversation Redwood Voice Community News had with Norma Williams following the employees’ confrontation with the Board of Supervisors.

“[The County] like to kick it down the road. We had a compensation study done back around 2009-2010, they took a look at it and said ‘Nope.’ When they did one in 2016, they took a look at it and said ‘Nope,'” she said. “Their track record isn’t very good.”

Williams said that the last compensation study that had concrete benefits to the employees was in the years 1999-2000.

“I was around when that came in, that’s the last time workers actually saw an actual compensation study implemented,” she said.

County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez declined to comment due to ongoing negotiations with SEIU 1021.