LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Some county workers say they’re overworked, underpaid, and out of patience with the Clark County Commission.
Tuesday morning members of SEIU Local 1107 turned up and turned out to make their feelings known.
“So within 48 hours we collected the signatures of over 1,150 of our members who are upset, they’re angry, they’re overworked, their tired, they really want some help from this commission, they’re calling on your leadership,” said Michelle Maese, the president of Local 1107.
Members of the union say they’re fed up. They turned out to voice their experiences, and frustrations, with commissioners.k
“We are in the customer service business but it is tough, I mean real tough, to give good customer service when you have been short-staffed for so long,” shared one custodial worker. “One of the reasons I’m speaking here first is, I’ve got to get back to work because, without me, we only have one custodian covering the entire RJC. That’s my co-worker, that is 17 floors.”
Union members say 20 percent of county positions sit unfilled — that equates to around a thousand jobs.
Some raised concerns about the toll the staffing shortage is having on their co-workers. Others were more worried about the impact it has on the people they serve.
“I have a three-week-old infant right now, a four-year-old autistic kid, a five-year-old on medication, I have children who present as being autistic because they’ve been exposed to so much trauma,” said Nicole Miller, a case worker at Child Haven with more than 20-years of service with the County. “They’re non-verbal, they’re in diapers, they don’t know how to socialize or interact with other kids, and they can be retraumatized by something as walking to the playground and witnessing a fight.”
Miller says these are the kids who are hit hardest by staffing gaps.
“Unfortunately, due to our staffing levels, we aren’t able to observe everything or spend enough time with these kids to avoid crisis.”
Subcontractors have been hired to fill some of the holes, but full-time employees say that’s not a solution either.
“Rather than hiring more staff or improving the jobs of county workers to improve retention, the county is wasting millions of dollars on subcontractors who don’t provide good wages or benefits for this community, but pocket taxpayer money for large executive salaries instead,” said Marla McPherson, a superintendent with the Department of Aviation.
“What’s more, these subcontractors are frankly doing a lousy job,” she adds. “Because these companies aren’t doing their jobs, that work is trickling down to county employees who are already short-staffed.”
McPherson says the county workers bring something extra to the table.
“County workers take pride in the job they do while many of these subcontracted workers don’t care, because they are paid low wages without any benefits. They are not invested in the job.”
Union President Maese said many of those positions could be filled by her members.
“The County has spent over 30 million dollars on security officers alone, contracting them out. We represent security officers, those are good union jobs that we’re contracting out.”
However, she points out, people can make more money elsewhere.
“You can go to In-N-Out Burger right now and make $17.50 an hour as a starting pay. That is more money than 50 or our classifications in this Clark County government positions. You can go to Starbucks and make $22 an hour, again that’s more than 50 our classifications in Clark County.”
Maese also notes a lack of diversity in the higher levels of county administration.
“When you move up to the top in Clark County leadership, the less we see Black and brown people at tables like yours,” she said. “Example is your Clark County bargaining team, where there are no black people, no brown person, and one person of Asian descent, that’s it. The Clark County Bargaining Team that we sit in front of every Tuesday.”
The County Commission accepted the petition from the union without comment. So far, FOX5′s request for a statement on the workers’ grievances has gone unanswered as well.
The union stopped short at threatening any sort of labor action – but Maese did say members are prepared to stand up for themselves.
“We will not go quietly into the night, if we must fight to protect public services and public workers, that is exactly what we will do.”
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