By News-Register staff • 

County, employees reach impasse in contract talks

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Comments

BigfootLives

This is an honest question. What county do they live in? Yamhill county has more affordable options than Washington, may be equal with parts of Marion and Polk. God help you if you’re trying to live in clackamas or multnohma. I agree that the options to purchase or rent a home in McMinnville has all but been killed for young families.

If they have good skills they need to jump ship, there are better jobs out there for quality employees. And dump the union. Look what they have done for you till now. I’ve lived in McMinnville for 35 years and haven’t worked for a McMinnville company for 30 years. With a few exceptions, I can make 20-30% more by driving 45 minutes. And if you are living in another county, you are already doing that.

Jean

Gleaming rays of sunshine that pierce the forest canopy....with bunnies and deer nibbling on the fresh growth of nature's garden.

Bliss

The county should never have abandoned interest-based bargaining. It led to the departure of SEIU - yes, no union for a period of time. It led to several very successful negotiations. The Lewis/George/Tschabold/Vesper crowd thought it took too much time. That's when commissioners and admin thought they could then take advantage of the employees and stuck it to them. Of course the employees are going to bring the union back. The commissioners/admin will falsely say that it was the union that wanted to end IBB, but that is not true at all. Vesper thought he could abandon the concept and ram things down the employee's throat. The employees realized that IBB wasn't being followed at all and determined they were going to have to get representation again if they were going to play in that arena. Bigfoot says they should all just leave. Maybe that's what Huffer and current commissioners think too. Just hire others, right? Not much respect for the current employees who are the boots on the ground actually serving the public. Shows how much disrespect is actually embraced by the current elected and appointed leadership.

TroyProuty*

I'm all for workers rights. Try doing the job without them..

BigfootLives

So your union rep let you go to the table with a demand for a 48% wage increase? The same union rep that let you get into the position you are now in being paid below market rate, year over year? Are you noticing a pattern there?

13% COLA in the last contract and offering 11% now over 3 years. Nobody is getting 24% COLA in the real world, and neither should the county workers. 15 paid holidays?? Are you serious? cry me a river.

Attention county commissioner - let them go on strike, bust the union, refill the positions and get this over with.

Bliss

Bigfoot, that very attitude is exactly why the union exists. True leadership would find a way to defuse the situation and appreciate employees. Sure, organized labor always comes in on the high side. It's the way they operate. In an IBB model - which county leadership sadly thought was a waste of time and threw out - both sides agree upon what data to use, and how to reasonably approach bargaining. What a concept, huh? Bigfoot, some of the actions you suggest or allude to would have the County with an Unfair Labor Practices complaint filed against them fast. This entire issue, and the issues of the recent past come down to one thing, a county void of leadership. Commissioners and Admin own this 100%, and have for at least 15 years now. A consistent downhill slide with no end in sight.

SCALEPERSON

11% COLA...not very much?15 paid holidays? Insurance premiums almost all paid for...? Etc... Not good enough? I think I should apply for a County Job!

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