News

Representatives of Benton County management and AFSCME Local 2064 arrived to begin bargaining at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 15. A little after 5:00 p.m. the mediator asked if either party had further offers or bargaining for the day. Neither party did, so the mediator dismissed everyone. 

The next bargaining session is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 19. The Benton County Board of Commissioners meeting set to take place on Monday, Nov. 18 was rescheduled to Friday, Nov. 22 so the County can prioritize negotiations.

In the previous session on Tuesday, Nov. 12, the County presented a new compensation proposal at 11:35 a.m. with a 5:00 p.m. expiration time in an effort to prevent a strike. The offer included a $2,000 payment to every AFSCME member on ratification of the contract, a higher annual increase in the first year of the contract, and matching contributions to employees’ Health Savings Accounts on top of the annual increases and salary schedule adjustments that were previously offered. The offer was not accepted and expired at 5 p.m.

Because Tuesday’s offer was not accepted before it expired, Friday’s bargaining began with the County’s previous offer that was presented with two implementation options on Nov. 1. This offer includes a $1,500 payment to every AFSCME member upon ratification of the contract, annual wage increases of 4.4% in the first year of the contract and 3% in the second and third years, and additional steps added to salary schedules to allow for future wage growth.

Market Study for AFSCME Positions

AFSCME members indicate they want to be treated the same as management and unrepresented employees when it comes to pay increases. They can be if they go through the same process to determine what is an appropriate increase: a market study like the one that evaluated unrepresented employees’ wages and determined if and how much they should be adjusted.

The County introduced something new to the bargaining by suggesting they employ an independent consultant to conduct a pay study for all AFSCME employees. This would determine how their wages compare with market rates for their positions. Setting wages this way would create equity throughout the County by using the same method to set salaries for all employees: management, union-represented, and non-represented. 

A market study is an intensive process that takes several months to complete, so the immediate action, if agreed upon, would create a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with AFSCME committing the County to hire a consultant to begin the study after a labor contract is ratified. Once the study is complete, AFSCME employees’ wages would then be corrected to align with market rates. 

Clarifying the Vacancy Factor

The Union has suggested the County is not using a vacancy factor which would reduce the cost of their proposal and bring it in line with available revenues. A “vacancy factor” is a tool used in the budgetary process to determine estimated savings that will occur over the course of a budget period from position vacancies. 

Because the County has not been specifying a vacancy factor in its cost proposal calculations during the bargaining process, the Union has assumed vacant positions are taking up available funds, and, as a result, more money should be available to spend on pay increases for AFSCME employees. 

While the County appreciates the Union’s concern, a vacancy factor is being used against the total cost of any proposal to ensure it is within the estimated revenues available. It would be inappropriate to use within the costing of proposals as it would not represent what the true cost is to support all necessary AFSCME positions. However, if applied this way, it would return the same result and show the current county proposal is within the estimated available revenue.

Negotiations continued today between Benton County management and representatives of AFSCME Local 2064. The two parties met for a full day of mediation, but agreement has not yet been reached on a contract. The next mediation session has been scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 19.

In order to prioritize the ongoing negotiations, the Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting originally scheduled for Monday, Nov. 18 has been rescheduled to Friday, Nov. 22 at 10:00 a.m. “Both labor and management have put in long hours focused on maintaining county services and on reaching a new contract agreement,” said Commissioner Xan Augerot. “Out of respect for their efforts, we wanted to clear our calendars for continued negotiations, as necessary.”

Visit the County’s website for the agenda and information about attending the Nov. 22 meeting in person or virtually.

Two special meetings have been scheduled for Monday, Nov. 18 and Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 12:00 p.m. Following each Special Meeting opening and agenda review and approval, the Board will convene in Executive Session with respect to labor negotiations, which is confidential and not open to the public.

Contract negotiations continue today between Benton County management and the members of AFSCME Local 2064. Benton County provided a new proposal around 11:30 a.m. in an effort to avoid a strike. The offer expires at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12. 

In addition to other provisions, the County offered the following:

• An initial payment of $2,000 to every AFSCME employee upon ratification of the contract.
• Three additional steps (steps 9, 10, and 11) added to salary schedules to create room for future wage growth and adjust the overall pay grade ranges (i.e. percentage difference between the lowest and highest step) to align with non-represented employee pay grade ranges.
• A 5% increase upon ratification for all C-band employees.
• Annual wage increases for all AFSCME employees:
  • 5% increase upon ratification of the contract.
  • 3% increases in the second and third years of the contract. 
• Additional contributions to employees’ Health Savings Accounts to match all employee HSA contributions up to $500. This is on top of the County’s current contributions: $800 a year for those with individual health insurance plans and $1,400 for individual + family plans.

All represented employees who have been at step 8 of their pay grade since July 1, 2023, will receive an automatic step up to step 9 prior to the wage increases outlined above. For example, C-band employees at step 8 would see a pay increase of about 13% upon ratification of the contract following the step up. 

If agreement on the contract is not reached today, AFCSME has provided notice to the county that its represented employees will strike on November 13, 2024, at 6:00 a.m. Visit bentoncountyor.gov/announce for contract negotiation updates and information about County service availability and hours in the event of a strike. 

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.

More information is available on the County’s website.

On October 30, 2024, Republic Services submitted a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application to expand the Coffin Butte Landfill. This application is a revision of the one filed on July 19, 2024, that was deemed “Incomplete” by the Planning Division of Benton County Community Development. The County anticipates that this revision includes more detailed technical reports and a broader spatial analysis to assess the existing conditions and potential impacts of landfill operations.

Benton County has a statutory 30-day period to complete a Completeness Check—a quality measure to ensure all required and requested information is included, along with any necessary supporting documents. The County will once again utilize the expertise of an outside consultant for technical support to ensure all aspects of the application are thoroughly reviewed. Because of the timing of this filing—just before a general election and a possible labor strike—the County expects to use the full 30 days allowed to provide a response to Republic Services.

If the application is deemed Complete, the review process will begin and must be completed within 150 days. If the application is Incomplete, Republic Services may use the rest of the six-month period to provide the County more information from the August 16, 2024 Incompleteness Letter sent to Republic Services. 

Citizens who would like to receive updates on the process can contact pioinfo@bentoncountyor.gov and request to be added to the County’s solid waste management email list.

The full application can be viewed online: https://library.municode.com/or/benton_county/munidocs/munidocs?nodeId=761dacfdc0789