Moeser

Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment declaring that they are not entitled to additional compensation under the provisions of Government Code, section 74751.

*564 The sole issue in this case involves a determination of the meaning of the phrase “general increase” as used in Government Code, section 74751. This statute provided, in effect, that if the employees of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department received a “general increase” in compensation between September 15, 1961, and July 1, 1963, the employees of the then several marshals in San Diego County should receive similar increases in compensation in accordance with certain salary schedules.

During the effective period of this statute, the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County raised the compensation of 78.5 per cent of the employees of the sheriff’s department. The appellants, employees of the marshals, allege that this increase in the compensation of the sheriff’s employees was a “general increase,” and therefore under the statute all the employees of the marshals are entitled to a one-step increase. The trial court held that there was no “general increase,” and we agree.

Where “general” was intended to mean less than 100…