The Orange County Employees Association (OCEA), located in Santa Ana, California, is the largest independent public employee labor union in Orange County, representing about 18,000 employees. OCEA was founded in 1937 with the mission to advance the welfare and security of Orange County local government employees and their families. OCEA's vision is to be a recognized leader among labor organizations by playing a vital role in the lives of local government employees and their families and providing a valuable resource relevant to their contemporary needs and interests.
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Represented Areas
Orange County Employees Association represents employees from the County of Orange, Orange County Superior Court, cities and special districts in Orange County.
County Agencies Represented
Assessor; Auditor-Controller; Child Support Services; Clerk of the Board; Clerk-Recorder; County Counsel; County Executive Office; District Attorney; Health Care Agency; Internal Audit; John Wayne Airport; OC Community Resources; OC Public Works; OC Waste & Recycling; OCERS; OC Fire Authority; OC Law Library; Probation Department; Public Administrator/Public Guardian; Public Defender; Registrar of Voters; Sheriff-Coroner; Social Services Agency; Treasurer-Tax Collector.
Cities and Special Districts Represented
City of Anaheim; City of Costa Mesa; City of Fountain Valley; City of Garden Grove; City of Irvine; City of Laguna Niguel; Mesa Consolidated Water District; Moulton Niguel Water District; City of Newport Beach; Orange County Sanitation District; Orange County Water District; City of Placentia; City of San Clemente; City of Seal Beach; City of Tustin; City of Yorba Linda.
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Leadership
OCEA is governed by a 19-member Board of Directors, elected by its membership. The Board determines the policies and general direction which guide OCEA and its staff. Each Board member is a member of OCEA.
President
Robert Gibson of Orange County Probation Department is OCEA's president. He has been a union member since 1995 and served on the Board of Directors since 2005.
General Managers
Nick Berardino is OCEA's general manager. A machine gunner in the Marines during the Vietnam War, Berardino has been an OCEA employee since 1978. Berardino was hired in 2004 as the union's third general manager to lead the professional staff of OCEA. During his career at OCEA, Berardino has served in multiple positions for the union and in 2011 he was appointed to the 32nd District Agricultural Association, Orange County Fair Board by California Gov. Jerry Brown. In 2010 he was awarded the Cesar E. Chavez Award, which is given to the most outstanding labor leader. Berardino was chosen as the recipient for the coveted award because of his leadership and solidarity with workers in Orange County. He was also named "The Best Voice for the Little Guy" in 2011 by OC Weekly. The magazine chose Berardino for being an idealist who doesn't take kindly to people in power exerting any type of unjust control over those who don't want or know how to be heard.
Berardino is a controversial figure in Orange County politics and is known for his often belligerent approach to negotiations. During a contract negotiation session on January 5, 2014, Berardino became enraged at County of Orange negotiator Bruce Barsook, called county supervisors "crooks" and yelled at him to leave the building. When Barsook got up to leave, Berardino stepped in front of him and chest-bumped Barsook. A few days later, the county filed formal assault charges against Berardino.
John Hagland Sawyer takes over as OCEA's general manager, after his father John Hiatt Sawyer retires in 1999. Before his tenure as general manager, John Sawyer Jr. served as OCEA's general counsel.
John Hiatt Sawyer was OCEA's first general manager. Sawyer, a graduate of the University of Michigan, joined OCEA in 1960 and turned it from a fraternal organization into the professional labor union it is today. During Sawyer's tenure at OCEA, the union negotiated health insurance for retired workers. The association was also among the first in the state to secure uniform retirement benefits for workers in the 1960s, instead of employees only getting what they paid into the system.
Activities
City of Costa Mesa
OCEA represents employees in the city of Costa Mesa, who are part of the Costa Mesa City Employees Association. In March 2011, the Costa Mesa City Council distributed layoff notices to more than 200 employees. The Costa Mesa employees and OCEA filed an injunction blocking the City of Costa Mesa from laying off employees and privatizing their jobs. Orange County Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann ruled in favor of the employees. The defeat is named "Best Political Coup-2011" by OC Weekly.
The People's Inauguration Party
In January 2011, OCEA served hot dogs to nearly 4,000 members of the public at the California State Capitol. The event, celebrating the inauguration of Governor Jerry Brown, was featured in various publications and media outlets.
Hybrid Pension Plan
OCEA and the County of Orange created a hybrid pension plan in 2009 that cleared the State legislature with unanimous bi-partisan approval. Former vice chair of the Federal Reserve, Roger Ferguson, praised the pension plan for showing how to provide retirement security in a financially sustainable way.
Orange County Bankruptcy
On Dec. 6, 1994, Orange County became the largest municipality in U.S. history to ever file for bankruptcy. The Orange County Employees Association, which represented two-thirds of County employees at the time, challenged the upcoming layoffs with the belief that it is unconstitutional for the County to overturn seniority rules during the cuts. OCEA filed a lawsuit that ended up sparing hundreds of County jobs.
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