Summary of Bargaining: November 12, 2024
Summary of Bargaining: November 12, 2024
Benton County provided a new proposal around 11:30 a.m. today 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.
The proposal was not accepted, and expired at 5:00 p.m.