Today marks 30 Days Since Solano County Public Defenders Began Strike
March 24, 2026
For Immediate Release
March 24, 2026
Today marks 30 Days Since Solano County Public Defenders Began Strike
County Continues to Delay Bargaining as Justice System on Brink of Major Disruption
(FAIRFIELD, CALIF.) Today, Solano County Public Defenders on strike were joined by the District Attorneys, the Napa Solano Central Labor Council and Community on the picket line as their strike surpasses 30 days amid bad faith bargaining by the County. The County has repeatedly failed to bargain in good faith since their contract expired last October.
“We stand in solidarity with the Public Defenders because we have all taken the oath to serve this community and ensure the justice system works fairly for everyone,” said Deputy District Attorney Elaine Kuo. “Their strike is also our fight to ensure the County provides wages that allows both the Public Defender and District Attorney offices to stay competitive and provide necessary services to protect and serve our community.”
Solano County has repeatedly proposed short-sighted offers that will only create greater costs and crises for the justice system in the County down the road. This is not a new story to the County justice system. In the past, the County lost talented Public Defenders and District Attorneys by the dozens when their wages and benefits fell perilously below the relevant markets, placing unmanageable caseloads on the Attorneys that remained and pushing both the Public Defender and District Attorney offices into disarray and threatening public safety.
Currently, Solano County is 20 percent behind the Bay Area County average wage for Public Defenders and District Attorneys, and at least 14 percent behind the neighboring counties of Marin, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Napa and Alameda. The County’s proposals would put the Attorneys in Solano even further behind, increasing those gaps and risking a repeat of what happened in the past.
Dale Wentz, Teamsters Local 150 Secretary-Treasurer, said, “Teamsters are not afraid to hold the line for as long as it is necessary to ensure our members in Unit 1 have the equity pay increase and benefits, they deserve. The Public Defenders have the strength of the entire union behind them. The unit is united and knows that one day longer is one day stronger.”
The strike by Public Defenders is on-going, and as it grows increasingly longer, Public Defenders continue to not take on new cases but will continue to be Counsel on current active cases until the case has been closed. With the Public Defenders on strike, the County would be on the hook to hire outside Counsel to take on cases, potentially wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money all due to the County not bargaining in good faith with a unit that is necessary for Solano County to run.
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Teamsters Local 150 represents approximately 9,000 members across Northern California primarily in Sacramento. Our members include public service employees, warehouse workers, UPS drivers, grocery warehouse employees, pharmaceutical warehousemen, construction workers, healthcare workers, bakery workers and many more.
