Richardson County Members Work Entire Year Without a Contract, File For Impasse

[Omaha Steve]

https://napeafscme.org/2024/07/01/richardson-county-members-work-entire-year-without-a-contract-file-for-impasse/


July 1, 2024

Fourteen NAPE/AFSCME members who work for the Richardson County Roads Department have worked for an entire year without a contract and without a pay raise. These members have been at the negotiating table for months trying to get the County to agree to a pay raise in order to attract and retain employees.

With the county offering a 0% salary increase from July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024, unless a list of anti-union demands were met, our members have been left with no choice but to declare impasse and send the dispute to the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations (CIR). Now it’s time for all NAPE/AFSCME members to stand in solidarity. The county’s treatment of our members is appalling, and It’s important to understand some of the history of these negotiations.

In June 2022, a Richardson County Commissioner approached a NAPE/AFSCME union steward and offered a 10% raise for our members. According to the Commissioner, all the members needed to do was tell our union to write the county a letter. Our members did not believe that this was a good-faith offer based on past interactions with the county commissioners. Our members were also concerned that the commissioners were interfering with the union’s ability to negotiate collectively.

Despite the concerns, at the county’s request, a union steward attended a Richardson County Commissioners meeting to request the 10% raise that was offered. When our steward attended, the Commissioners said they were not offering any raise.

FULL story at link above.