VISALIA — A countywide strike may be imminent — and if so, hundreds of Tulare County employees will participate, said Kristy Sermersheim, president of Service Employee International Union, Local 521.

“We have hundreds and hundreds of employees. I can’t say how many will strike but I can say that many, many people would strike in many, many departments. Ninety-eight percent [of union members] voted to go to strike,” Sermersheim said. “They tell us they are moving in the right direction. They are — at snail pace.”

The statement was made after this afternoon’s budget hearing at the Tulare County Board Supervisors’ chambers.

“We are not surprised but I am disappointed that the County of Tulare has voted four to one to implement their last and final offer,” Sermersheim said. “We put on quite a testimony.”

But in the end, with Supervisor Connie Conway voting no, the decision was announced to the standing-room-only crowd gathered for the budget hearings.

The afternoon started with a noon press conference by the Tulare County Employees of SEIU Local 521 on the lawn of the county’s Administration Building.

“They’ve lowered their demands,” Tulare County spokesman Eric Coyne said prior to the press conference.

Employees are requesting a 17.6 percent raise — a $21.8 million cost to Tulare County, Coyne said. The county was offering a 4.45 percent raise that translates to $4.85 million.

After the press conference, the budget hearing begin but it took fewer than 20 minutes for supervisors to return with their decision.

A Contract Action Team will meet to decide the next course of action, said Sam Shaw, communication specialist for SEIU Local 521.

“We’re incredibly disappointed,” said Steve Lloyd, a Tulare County social worker who is on the bargaining team. “We think that what we were requesting was more than reasonable. We don’t want to strike but it looks more and more like we are going to strike.”

-- Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1047, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com.