Clark County, SEIU heading to binding arbitration

Clark County and its largest union, which represents about 5,000 county employees, agreed Monday to go to binding arbitration to reach a contract agreement.

The county and the Service Employees International Local 1107 started negotiations in June 2013. They’ve also spent months trying to get the matter to a third-party arbitrator, or fact-finder, for a final decision on the terms of a contract.

Until Monday, both sides had disagreed on the length of the contract that should go before an arbitrator. Clark County officials had pushed for a shorter contract length, citing the uncertainty of the long-term financial outlook. Union officials, meanwhile, had sought a longer contract, saying an arbitrator can determine if the county’s proposal for a shorter agreement had merit.

The agreement to go to binding arbitration is for a contract of up to four years, ending June 30, 2017. But the arbitrator can only award salary increases for a two-year period that ends June 30, 2016, under the agreement, which was obtained by the Review-Journal.

The SEIU declared an impasse in February 2014.

“I don’t know why it took so long for the union to sign the County’s proposal but I’m glad that they did,” County Manager Don Burnette said in a statement. “Now we can finally move forward with getting this contract dispute resolved.”

The county initially proposed going to binding arbitration in August 2014 for a term that ends June 30, 2016. But the union resisted that effort, pushing for a contract that’s one year longer.

The county offered again on April 8 to go into binding arbitration, but shortened the proposed contract length from a two-year period to one year, citing the union’s rejection of its prior attempts.

The deal approved Monday mirrors the county’s original proposal from 2014.

The two sides have clashed over longevity pay, which increases salaries for employees with more than seven years of service. The county has wanted to end it for new, future hires — while grandfathering in all current employees — to boost long-term savings. But the union has resisted that, saying it would ultimately create two groups of employees.

The agreement to go to an arbitrator means that both sides likely will be negotiating salaries again in early 2016. The agreement allows the county or union to reopen the contract and seek an increase or decrease to salaries for the one-year period in the contract that starts July 1, 2016.

The arbitrator won’t change salaries for the July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014 fiscal year. In April 2014, county officials through an interim agreement gave a 2 percent salary increase to SEIU-affiliated employees to restore prior cuts made during the recession. Other county employee groups had received a similar increase.

It will be several months before an arbitrator’s decision is handed down.

Martin Bassick, president of the SEIU Local 1107, wasn’t available for comment Monday. In the past, he’s said the union wants to get a contract for workers. He’s also said that the county could have made its case for a shorter contract to an arbitrator, and let that third party determine how long of a contract to award.

Clark County’s costs for outside legal counsel for bargaining with the SEIU Local 1107 are $37,155 so far, public records show.

The county’s Las Vegas labor law firm, Fisher & Phillips, got involved starting in February 2014 — when an impasse was declared, according to billing records the county provided the Review-Journal in response to a public records request.

The county’s labor attorney, Mark Ricciardi, bills at $360 an hour, while an associate attorney at the firm bills at a rate of $305 an hour.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.