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Balancing Responsibility in Negotiations
Posted 1-18-1999
As you may be aware, the county's contract negotiations with its largest union, the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have stalled. The tentative agreement,
reached on New Year's Eve was voted down overwhelmingly by the membership, and there are
no negotiations scheduled until January 29, 1999. The membership will continue to work
under the old contract that expired on December 31, 1998. I ABSOLUTELY do not want to
discuss the details of the negotiations but would like to give an overview of what must be
considered when trying to develop a responsible contract.
Negotiating a contract in the public
sector, for a large nonprofit entity, like county government, is unlike the negotiations
that would take place between a for-profit company and its employees. While the issues
such as wages, benefits, working conditions may be similar, the resources we have
available are not profits, but public dollars. I certainly understand we have many
relatively low-paid employees, but we offer job security that NO private company can
offer. We won't go out of business and we can't pick up our operations and relocate. Even
though the local economy is improving, private sector employment is still very fluid.
Companies change their size, shape, and the types of employment, as the market changes.
The functions of county government, while some have changed with technology, still are
similar to what they have been for many years. Other than information systems jobs, the
only new occupations in recent years are jobs in our 911 Center.
We must balance our responsibility for
treating our employees fairly, through their compensation and benefits, with our
responsibility to manage the public's budget effectively. The county budget is not mine
and my colleagues', but yours. I also recognize that county employees are taxpayers too,
but having a public sector job is a privilege, and all of us are responsible to the
greater majority. Though elected officials are directly chosen by the public, all
government employees share in the responsibility to serve, that is why our vocation is
called public service. My prior statements may sound idealistic, but I'm firmly convinced
the greatest challenge for our democracy is to restore the public's faith in government.
That challenge ranges from the federal government to local government, and it doesn't
exclude Westmoreland County government.
I know that challenge is sometimes
difficult to appreciate because a job is a job, and when people work hard they want the
rewards. The dilemma elected officials face is, the public wants services, but they don't
want to keep paying more and more for those services. The cost of operating government is
certainly going up, but we have a responsibility to try to minimize the increases in
expenses, while treating our employees fairly, and continuing to provide quality services.
Westmoreland County government's situation
is precarious because our future financial position is not all that rosy. We are okay in
1999 and 2000, but 2001, 2002, and beyond is uncertain. The fund balances that have been
used for years to balance our budgets are drying up and unless the growth of expenses can
be controlled we will have problems. Even with relatively good times, tax revenues are not
soaring. We hope new homes and new businesses will bring in more revenue, but even with
more revenue, expenses must be controlled. That does not mean we are trying to balance the
budget on the backs of the employees. Employee expenses are one piece of the puzzle, and I
can assure you we are trying to improve everything from utility expenses to the expenses
of the goods and services we acquire.
So, as this process unfolds, please
understand the implications of the employee contract are only one part of the overall cost
of operating county government. We must balance fair treatment of our employees with our
responsibility to ALL taxpayers. That responsibility is to be wise managers of their money
and their trust. We need to come together in this experience, and that is in service to
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