County Board Imposes Contract

The McHenry County Board has plans to impose a contract for the Division of Transportation and its drivers, simply because both sides were unable to come to an agreement with one another. The Human Resources committee has suggested that the County Board set up a contract for the 30+ drivers, who are actually represented by the International Union of Operation Engineers Local 150. On Tuesday, the board will likely set up and approve the contract during the meeting.

A Human Resources director for the county, Robert Ivetic, says that the county has worked on an offer that should be suitable for the drivers. However, even though it was the best offer that the county could give, Local 150 took a vote and rejected the offer. The 30+ drivers have since been working with no contract and this has been going on for the past nine months, going on an entire year. The last contract deal had expired on July 1^st of 2011.

The contract that the county set up would offer the drivers a raise of approximately 2 percent during the year of 2012. There would also be an increase during 2013 and 2014 too. Starting salaries have been set for the drivers as well. Entry level drivers would start off with a salary of $18.25 each year, with a 25 cent raise as each year passes by.

The union, however, set their own proposal. In an e-mail, which was sent on the 24^th of February, the union says they want a contract that would last for three years, with raises of up to 2.75 percent, along with certain adjustments that would be made specifically for employees who have been working as drivers for a longer period of time.

The union wants workers to get a 25 cent raise each year for the first five years and then an increase in raise for the following years, with a 37 cent raise each year after the five year mark. A spokesperson for the union, Ed Maher, says that the offer made by the county was ridiculously low. The negotiator for the two sides, Robert Paddock, says that he suggested the county consider making some revisions to their proposal.  Maher hopes that the county takes this into consideration, especially since the union already accepted the fact that they will be receiving less when it comes to their health care. Maher says that he and other union members are very hopeful that negotiations will be made on both sides and that a deal will finally be made, in which the union will be able to benefit and the county will be satisfied. It is important for union members to stay hopeful as the county may end up changing their proposal and giving them what they truly want.