County union approves 2 percent pay cuts

After three days of voting, Clark County's largest union overwhelmingly approved 2 percent pay cuts for 5,100 workers, a rollback that will save more than $8 million a year.

About 87 percent of employees who participated backed the wage reduction, 12 percent voted "no" and 1 percent contested the ballot. A tally of participants wasn't available Friday night.

County commissioners now must sign off on the pay cuts. Their next regular meeting is April 19, but they could hold a special hearing sooner to ratify the changes.

"This is a very real sacrifice for our members," said Nick Di Archangel, spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1107. "Just because the numbers are 2 percent, it shouldn't be downplayed."

Workers hope the pay cuts will save jobs, but they know that layoffs are still possible, Di Archangel said. They also know that county leaders will ask for more concessions when the two sides begin bargaining to renew the labor contract set to expire in July, he said.

Earlier this week, commissioners approved 2 percent pay cuts for about 300 managers. They also voted 5-2 recently to give themselves a 2 percent salary snip, with Commissioners Tom Collins and Lawrence Weekly opposing the reduced pay.