County considers workaround of Act 10 restrictions for union

The Fond du Lac County Finance Committee is considering a proposal that would provide a workaround of the restrictions of the controversial collective bargaining law Act 10 for members of a public employees union.

County Human Resources Director Michael Marx sent a memorandum to the county's Finance Committee in May explaining the limitations the law placed on the AFSCME local 1366E Social Services union.

Act 10 removed the ability of public employees unions to negotiate for anything but a pay increase limited to the Consumer Price Index. The county board approved a 1.57-percent increase for the union's members, which is the maximum allowed under the law this year.

Other non-union county employees received a 2-percent increase without similar restrictions at the beginning of the year.

"In other words, this group is being penalized by the state because they didn't decertify their union," Board Chairman Martin Farrell said.

Marx recommended the board approve a supplemental pay increase for the more than 70 employees affected to make up for the difference. The extra pay would work like a bonus, being paid once in a lump sum in the first pay period of December.

The extra pay would also be based on the number of hours worked, ranging from 7 to 10 cents, depending on the employee's current wages, and would be increased by 1.5 times for overtime. Marx said the payments would amount to between $140 to $190, depending on the employee's wages.

Next year's supplemental pay would have to be reapproved by the board, and every year after, and can't be a part of the union's next contract negotiations. That's because the supplemental pay can't be part of the union's contact under Act 10 and is entirely at the discretion of the board, Marx said.

"This is just the least problematic way of getting the increase to the employees without creating extra coding in our system," County Executive Al Buechel said. "When you look at personnel administration, is it fair to keep everybody similar? In my opinion, it is."

County board supervisors discussed the proposal at their June 2 meeting and recommended the proposal be drafted into a resolution.

The committee may consider sending the proposal to the board at its next meeting June 16.

Reach Justin Kabbes at jkabbes@gannett.com or at 920-907-7925.