James Truhls works as a landfill gate attendant for Inyo County. Although his job requires him to know about the different regulations surrounding garbage and recycling, vehicle scales, accounting, and even conflict resolution, everyone knows folks like him are some of the most underpaid and under-appreciated workers in the county.

But thanks to the hard work our AFSCME Local 315 sisters and brothers put in over the last several months, Truhls and hundreds of other workers will get a well-deserved raise and the security that comes with knowing they are finally getting a fair return on their work.

Local 315 recently won a new three-year contract that, for the first time in a while, gave our sisters and brothers a 4 percent wage increase every year, which will help them keep up with the cost of living in a rural part of the state.

The new contract also includes salary adjustments for part-timers, a new bilingual pay system and a compensation study that the local and county worked on together.

“The ratified contract and negotiated equity study will be extremely helpful in attracting and retaining employees,” said Local 315 member Dave Miller, who was part of the bargaining team. “This also assists our overworked HR department so they can focus on filling other under-resourced positions and keep training costs down.”

For years, our sisters and brothers have been battling with county management over how they treat and maintain their workforce. Inyo County has been slow to fill vacant positions, and many workers were being paid less than their counterparts in nearby counties—even though they did more work.

Although living in Inyo County means living far away from a metropolitan area, many workers have begun saying that they would rather try their luck miles away in another county than stick around and not make enough to pay their bills or afford things such as health care.

That’s why the compensation study that Local 315 fought for was so timely.

By having a seat at the table when the county began looking at how each worker was being paid, our sisters and brothers were able to find out that some workers, like heavy equipment mechanics, were being paid less than their counterparts in other areas.

One of our brothers, Gilbert Conde, was being paid the same salary as a driver who breaks down the equipment he is responsible for repairing.

The compensation study made it clear that workers like Conde needed their pay increased for the greater good of the community.

“It's a great feeling knowing you were able to impact the organizational culture and retain an employee that keeps our roads department operating,” Miller said.

Local 315 Vice President Janelle Kent said negotiations with the county in previous years have been contentious. So it was refreshing to see that they were able to come to some favorable agreements so that everyone could benefit this time around.

“I know it can be a trying process at times so I just want to acknowledge and thank everybody,” Kent said. “We live and work in a great place and we have a lot of great public servants here.”