Court Office Technical (COT) Bargaining Update
MEDIATION FAILS
Your UPE Court Office Technical Bargaining Team met in good faith with the Court and a State Mediator on October 20, 2026. Unfortunately, mediation failed to produce an agreement.
The Court made no movement to provide a livable raise that would keep our members’ salaries up with the current cost of living increase! To add insult to injury, the Court’s Executive Officer approved 9.5% raises for her Operations Directors in March, which equates to an additional annual increase of $15,000, and tried to hide it by not updating the public salary table.
It is not lost on your bargaining team that it is difficult for the membership to get approved vacation. It is not lost on us that the membership has taken on additional duties, which the Court has acknowledged but refuses to compensate at the table. However, the CEO will compensate her Operations Directors with a raise to increase their average $166,000 annual salaries! It is not lost on your bargaining team that these same Directors, including managers, can take vacation whenever they want!
Overworked? The CEO pacifies the membership with an email thanking you for all the hard work you do. The CEO also believes that a $1,000 one-time payment should be enough to offset the cost-of-living increases for this year. Instead of taking accountability for the poor judgment she showed in giving such outrageous raises to her Directors, the CEO now wants to shift the blame toward the Judicial Council for not giving her enough money. The Court has never received 100% budget allocations from the Judicial Council in years past; however, the CEOs of years past made it a priority to provide the membership with a livable raise. How times have changed!
The message must be clear: enough is enough! If the members allow the Court to continue to devalue our work, the Court will continue to devalue us in future contract negotiations! A one-time payment that equates to a couple hundred dollars after taxes is insulting, degrading, and demoralizing!
We came to the table in good faith. Now we stand together for the contract we deserve.
UPE is sending the Court a 10-day strike notice for the Court Office Technical Bargaining Unit. This means the strike may occur any day, on or after October 30, 2026. It does not mean the strike will necessarily happen on October 30th.
To learn more and help prepare for the strike please come to the Union Hall on October 27, 2026 at 6:15 pm. We will be making strike signs and getting organized. Everyone can help!
Mark Your Calendars!!
Strike Preparation Meeting at the UPE Union Hall on October 27, 2026
6:15 pm to 7:45 pm
