Statement About Negotiations Between Benton County and AFSCME
Benton County remains committed to settling this contract. In 140 hours of negotiation, we have seen very little movement from AFSCME on wages, including 70 days with no counter after a financial offer from the County. Since then, the County has brought millions more dollars to the bargaining table.
Tonight, we are providing proposed salary tables based on our last best offer for the public and our employees. These are the same documents we shared today with the AFSCME negotiation team. We are also sharing the cost of this proposal. The County is prepared to pay, for total wages and benefits, almost $45 million in year 1 of the contract (a $2.5 million increase over current expenditures), $50.4 million in year 2, and $53.5 million in year 3. This is a total of about $147 million on the table for employee compensation.
Two additional mediation sessions have been scheduled for November 7 and November 12. We look forward to continuing working toward a resolution.