Knoxville — The Marion County Board of Supervisors is meeting this morning with representatives from AFSCME Local 3673-4, which represents Marion County's jailers, dispatchers and deputies, to discuss the union's next contract.
All three supervisors were present, as well as Sheriff Ron Goemaat, Chief Deputy Troy Fisher, Jail Administrator Scott Jerkins and Communications Director Martha Dykstra. Union Steward Charlie Puyear was also present. Both sides had outside advocates there for the negotiations.
The union's initial proposal seeks a 3 percent increase to the salary schedule, effective July 1, 2012, and another 3 percent increase, effective July 1, 2013. The County proposed no change to the schedule.
The County also seeks to reduce compensatory time carryover for deputies to 16 hours and eight hours for dispatchers and jailers. Currently, dispatchers and jailers get 24 hours, and deputies 40. The union's proposal seeks 48 hours.
Under the union's grievance procedure, the union seeks the removal of verbal warnings, written reprimands and suspensions removed from an employee's personnel file one year from the date written, if no other incidents have occurred.
The union seeks to add one-half of Christmas Eve to its holidays. The County seeks to delete the personal day from the contract.
Members of the bargaining unit currently pay nothing toward a single health insurance plan and approximately $200 a month for a family plan. The County is asking the union to increase single employee contributions to 5 percent. The union is asking for overage to stay the same as it was as of July 1, 2011. It would also like to consider a different vision plan and time to educate employees about the insurance plan.
The County would also like to discuss how seniority would be handled if a non-bargaining unit employee in the Sheriff's Office transfers into the bargaining unit. The County would also like to increase the amount of time needed for notification of sick leave from half an hour to two hours.
Union negotiations usually occur annually, unless both sides approve a multi-year agreement. Marion County is coming off a two-year agreement, reached in early 2010, in which employees received a 2 percent raise on July 1, 2011, and a 1.5 percent increase on July 1, 2010.
There is no specific timetable for when negotiations will be settled and a contract approved. The goal is to have the process completed before the County's next budget is due to the state, March 15. Both sides seemed to favor the idea of agreeing upon a multi-year agreement, to ease next year's budgeting process.
Following the initial proposal exchange, the meeting was closed to the public.
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