Clark County, service union fighting over pay raises

Clark County and its largest union approved a three-year contract last June, but they’re back at the bargaining table to fight over wage increases.

Service Employees International Union Local 1107 wants a 3.25 percent cost-of-living raise for all 5,805 union-eligible employees starting July 1. The county has refused to go that high.

“The (Consumer Price Index) is showing that the cost of living increase in our area is well over 3 percent, and the county only came up to 2 percent,” said Brenda Marzan, vice president of the union’s non-supervisory bargaining unit. “And we feel that is not going to be able to afford us to make our payments with the additional cost of living in Las Vegas.”

Sandy Jeantete, the county’s director of human resources and lead negotiator, said the union is omitting key facts. The CPI cited is for the Western Region, which includes Nevada, eight other states and Guam, Jeantete said.

The union also is asking that employees who have not topped out their salaries can earn an additional performance-based raise of up to 4 percent each year.

“We feel what we’ve offered is a fair salary increase,” Jeantete said.

The contract penned last year gave union-eligible employees a cost-of-living raise of 2 percent for the fiscal year, which runs from July through June. At the time, the county estimated the increase would cost about $9 million.

No such raises were determined for the next two fiscal years, and the county and union began meeting again in October to discuss the matter.

The county estimates that a 2 percent COLA increase will cost about $9.4 million, while a 3.25 percent raise will cost about $15.3 million.

Two bargaining meetings are scheduled this month, but SEIU representatives attended Tuesday’s County Commission meeting to voice their displeasure with how negotiations have gone.

“Remember we’re SEIU members, and we all vote,” county property appraiser and SEIU member Bob Costello told commissioners. “We will remember how this board treats us.”

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.