County workers to vote on contract proposal
On Tuesday, members of the county’s government union will gather to vote on a proposed contract that gives them a 4-percent raise this year and a 5-percent raise in 2004 and 2005. Rose Cindrik, business agent of Service Employees International Union Local 668, said negotiators will recommend against accepting the contract, because the entire raises would be eaten up by Fayette County’s new health insurance plan for its union employees.
“The hang-up in this negotiation is that the county has changed the health insurance benefits for the county workers. They have increased the deductibles and the pay (into the plan) for our membership,” said Cindrik.
While workers in the past have taken smaller raises because of good health benefits, Cindrik said this time around, workers need a salary increase to offset what they are losing to health insurance.
The union, which has been working without a contract for three months, wants a 5-percent salary increase this year and 6-percent in both 2004 and 2005.
Cindrik said that Fayette’s employees make less than those in other similarly sized counties and less than their counterparts in Greene County, a smaller county than Fayette.
Because the wages are so low, Cindrik said, many of the union employees qualify for some sort of federal or state aid. In a survey to the 147 members asking if they sought such aid, Cindrik said about 50 answered that they had.
“I was shocked,” she said, noting that union employees just want to be treated fairly.
“We need to change to bring the county up to the standards of other counties,” Cindrik said.
When the membership meets on Tuesday, Cindrik said, they could vote to send negotiators back to the bargaining table. The union was not proposing a strike, she added.
Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites said he has met with the union to listen to their concerns when his presence was requested. He said he attended the bargaining session last week but noted that he cannot unilaterally offer anything to the union.
Vicites said he was hopeful that the situation could be resolved without a strike. “I said from the very beginning I wanted to be fair to our employees, and I want to keep that commitment to be fair,” he said. “There’s no question they’re underpaid and they deserve to make a living wage.”
The commissioner said that he also faces balancing the increase in wages with the interest of the taxpayers.
The union members will meet at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, said Cindrik, noting that even with their discontent, the members are committed to providing quality services to the county.