On May 17, 2018, the County received a declaration of impasse and request for mediation from Teamsters, Local 856. On or about June 5, 2018, the parties began communicating with the mediator to schedule the mediation. The parties met with an assigned State Mediator on September 21, 2018, regarding the non-substantial revisions to the typical tasks, minimum qualifications, and knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) sections of the Registered Dental Assistant (RDA), Registered Dental Assistant-Project, and Lead Registered Dental Assistant job specifications. The revisions included updating the license/certification section of the job specification to reflect the current requirements that are in practice for an RDA to maintain employment with Contra Costa County. Other revisions included updating KSA’s to reflect industry standard language, added language to promote excellent customer service and to acknowledge and respect cultural, educational and linguistic differences of the County’s diverse population.
On September 25, 2018, Teamsters, Local 856 filed a request for fact finding regarding the revised job specifications. On September 28, 2018, the County opposed the request for fact finding on the basis that the request was filed untimely. On October 2, 2018, PERB notified the County that Teamsters Local 856 had withdrawn the fact finding request.
The job specifications would not reflect updated tasks, minimum qualifications, and knowledge, skills, and abilities.