Union Workers Ask: Will Social Services Become County’s Newest Department?

RIO GRANDE – Men and women who administer Cape May County’s social service programs are feeling the pinch of low wages and are uncertain for whom they will be laboring in the future.
Candace Ivins, president of United Independent Union Local 5 Cape May County Board of Social Services, and about 40 union members, all wore red flowers to the April 14 freeholders meeting. Ivins said after the meeting those crimson flowers were worn “because we are the bottom of the county welfare agencies in New Jersey.”
“We were recently made aware the freeholder board is going to take over the Board of Social Services,” said Ivins at the public portion of the meeting. “I thought maybe it would be up for discussion at this meeting. We came to find out basically if this is a fact, when it’s going to happen, and how it will affect us,” she told the board.
“There’s going to be no discussion at this meeting,” said Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton. “In fact there hasn’t been a formal proposal yet from the Board of Social Services.”
“If there is a discussion will it be in open session?” Ivins asked.
“That will vary because it may entail some personnel matters,” Thornton replied. “We don’t know yet. We really don’t know. It’s only in very preliminary stages. It will probably take a few months in order to transition if it even happens.”
“I was under the impression that the board was going to vote, the Board of Social Services was going to take a vote on it next week,” Ivins said.
“That could very well be, but it hasn’t come to this board yet,” said Thornton.
“I would think they would have to ask you if you were interested in doing it, correct?” Ivins asked.
“There has been some discussion,” said Thornton.
“The union will remain the same for Social Services,” Thornton later told the Herald. “We negotiate separately now. The issue of making them a county department will be discussed in a public caucus in general terms. Nothing regarding personnel changes or salaries will be discussed in public.”
Daily Work Unaffected
Sara Maloney, Board of Social Services acting director, told the Herald in a telephone interview April 20 while the board is autonomous and meets once a month on the fourth Wednesday at noon in the Social Services Building, Rio Grande.
A shared services agreement exists with the county for human resources and payroll.
She said “just preliminary discussion” had taken place, but nothing had been finalized.
“Anything like that would have to be done by a formal resolution by the Board of Social Services, and that has not happened,” Maloney said.
The workers’ world would not be affected, Maloney added. Change, if any, would be administrative, “Like myself and how administration does business would change,” she stated.
Payroll processing would remain as it is at present, as would health benefits.
“Their everyday jobs, meeting with clients, would not change,” Maloney said.
“They are Civil Service, and that would not change either,” she said.
Union Negotiating
Ivins and several union officers briefed the Herald immediately after the April 14 meeting.
The union is currently in negotiations “with the county,” said Ivins, who estimated the local represents about 80 members.
“We were told when we were called into the office, this was going to happen, yet there hasn’t been a discussion in open session yet,” said Ivins.
“If the county took us over, I don’t know if there would be any advantage,” said Ivins.
Sharon Kelly, secretary of the local, said “The services that we provide are unique services. They are mandated through statutes by the state and federal governments. We are supposed to be a totally separate entity, we are autonomous. We have to follow federal and state regulations. Our jobs are Civil Service.”
Kelly also said that it takes two years that she performs before a person can work independently.
According to Ivins, “We are paid 40 percent less, on average, than other county welfare agencies. We are fighting this time. Nobody can live on from $26,000 or $30,000.” She cited an individual working in her job title (HSS2) in Gloucester County earns $54,000 while she, after five years, earns $30,587.
Margaret Ridgway, a social worker and trustee for the local, said, “I am a social worker and I still have to have a second job to maintain my home.”
Kelly also said that others she knows, who work in the state’s One Stop program, “make two and three times what I make.”
“Many people don’t take into consideration what we do,” she added. The work entails asking individuals personal questions about their income and similar confidential matters.
“It’s sad the regulations we have to deal with,” Kelly said.
She cited regulations that, she and other social services workers know, that mean some people who seek aid don’t make enough to live on, and because of that, “they fall through the cracks.”
“All we can do is put a bandage on it,” said Kelly. “I’m not a health professional. But the regulations are so difficult. It’s not anybody’s fault. We have a set of rules, federal rules, and we have to work within the guidelines.”
Of the latest offer made by the board to the local, Ivins termed, “Insulting because the money is there.”
Ivins said her salary has not been increased, except for contractual steps, since 2008.