NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 20, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Kazel, Communications Manager
218-725-5049 (office) • 218-591-2219 (cell)
Tentative agreement reached to end strike; county issues statement
St. Louis County has learned that employees of its Highway Maintenance Division, late this afternoon, approved a tentative contract agreement, bringing an end to the six-day strike. The 168 employees who are members of Teamster local 320 are expected to return to work tomorrow.
"We are thankful to have reached this agreement and to welcome our employees back to work," said Kevin Gray, St. Louis County administrator. "Both sides worked very hard to get to this point. This has been a challenging time for all of us. We have always recognized the hard work and important contributions of these employees, and our focus now is to move forward again as a team."
The tentative agreement was reached today at approximately 2 a.m., following 15 hours of mediation. Details of the agreement are largely as have been previously released: the three-year contract is for 2020-22, and includes base wage increases of 2% plus an additional $0.55 cents per hour in 2020, 2.25% in 2021, and 2.25% in 2022. Also included is a higher starting wage rate (nearly 4% higher) for new equipment operators, plus other revisions to wage schedules that allow employees to accelerate through the salary ranges faster. This means most employees, over the three year period, will receive wage increases of 10.5% to 12.5%, as well as any scheduled paid step increases, which average 3.8%.
For health insurance, which was an identified focus area for the union, the county agreed to the union’s request to allow the bargaining unit to choose to leave the county’s self-insured health plan in the future with an employer contribution up to the amount provided to employees covered by its own self-insured health plan.
While the proposed agreement does not include any changes to the sick leave accrual cap, as originally requested by the union, it does include enhanced funding with a health savings account option, for the Teamsters health insurance plan, should they elect to leave the county plan. The total cost for this provision will not exceed what the county contributes for employees in its own plan, but provides additional flexibility for the union.
Also new as a result of the latest mediation is employees in this bargaining unit will receive one additional permanent personal leave day per year beginning in 2021. Additionally a deal was reached that will provide another personal leave day sun setting in 2022, in exchange for concessions to give the county more flexibility to use seasonal highway laborers year around.
"I want to again thank our supervisors who stepped in to ensure our roads were plowed so the public could safely travel," said Gray. "Special thanks also goes to Commissioner Jan Johnson of the Bureau of Mediation Services and her team for facilitating meetings and working with both parties to reach a successful conclusion. Lastly, I'm appreciative of the Board for its commitment to reaching a respectful resolution that serves our employees as well as our taxpayers."
Upon completion of legal review by both parties, the County Board is expected to ratify the contract by the end of February. The contract will be retroactive to January 1, 2020.
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