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| Bethlehem Attorney Chris Spadoni |
These 15 workers are among 228 clerical employees for whom Brown sought wage hikes on April 16, arguing they were needed because the county has "struggled recruiting and maintaining staff in many of the clerical positions." At the time, he argued that the 4.5% raise "will result in a more fair and equitable pay rate that crosses non-union and union classifications." Deputy Administrator Cathy Allen told Council it would cost about $307,000, and would be above and beyond whatever was being negotiated in union contracts.
AFSCME business agent Justus James urged clerical workers to attend the April 16 meeting at which this raise was unanimously approved. Some of these 15 employees were there, and thanked Brown and Council.
Though Council unanimously approved the payhike, these 15 employees never got their raise.
Solicitor Ryan Durkin called it a "scrivener's error," a "payraise that was never intended to be made." Brown submitted a new resolution, explaining it "was never intended that the people at the top of the scale would be getting a 4.5% increase. My apologies to the people who were affected by this." He also argued, along with Mat Benol and Peg Ferraro, that it would create a precedent under which other pay grades would come in and demand increases, too. Benol called it a "slippery slope."
Council tabled the resolution at their July 1 meeting, suggesting that the parties negotiate. They refused to take it off the table at their July 16 meeting as well. But at their August 6 meeting, they voted along party lines to reneg on the raise. Peg Ferraro and Glenn Geissinger complained that these are union employees, and that business agent Justus James should be there if these workers are entitled to their raise.
Seth Vaughn, who was among the five Republicans voting to take back this raise, was participating by phone. But he was cut off during the meeting and missed the deliberations prior to the vote.He phoned in immediately prior to the vote. Under the state Sunshine Act, a public official may participate in a public meeting by speakerphone so long as he can hear and interact with everyone as though he were physically present.
Lamont McClure called the resolution a "grave injustice."
12 comments:
WTF??? Delete that nonsense.
The whole premise of these raises was flawed. These were clerical positions required very little education or experience. Starting salaries and benefits were superior to comparable positions in the private sector. So recruitment was never an issue. There was never any proof that the pool of applicants was drying up. And retention was never an issue either. Most positions were vacant due to promotions brought by retirements. This was a smoke screen to get pressure off the administration for obscene, illegal raises approved by Brown for his cronies. The one crony who benefited the most from this "raise grab" was Cathy Allen. And that nitwit screwed up the clerical pay raises by including employees at the top of their pay scales! Now Brown and his "Blundering Herd" of misfits want a "do-over." Council agreed to this by a thin margin, but the county will lose in court. More egg on Brown's face. He will continue to run his Clown school where his cabinet can learn how to amuse the public with their foolish antics.
Bernie;
Would this raise increase the top tier salary? If these 17 employees are awarded this raise would the other clerical workers be able to eventually get paid the same when they have the time in and top out as well?
Bernie, you need to report on the silly grant provided by DCED to support a business IN LEHIGH COUNTY! As was revealed at the Economic Development Committee meeting yesterday, our bloated DCED department, headed by voice-over artist Donaher, gave $35,000 to RePlace, a business in Whitehall, to develop a latex paint recycling program. RePlace is a non-profit organization affiliated with Habitat for Humanity. They sell donated building supplies to help fund the construction of homes by HFH. Good cause, no doubt. By why should Norco be the only county supporting this initiative. First of all, RePlace is in Lehigh County! They may not pay county taxes because of their NP status, but employees there pay local taxes, support local businesses for lunch office purchases, etc. Scott Parsons asked how much Lehigh County was contributing to this initiative. Lori Sywensky brushed this aside saying that it was Norco that had the vision to support this program, which will benefit its citizens by providing a means to dispose of latex paint in an environmentally-friendly manner. This may be the case, but the benefits to county taxpayers are tiny next to the benefit to HFH which will sell the recycled paint. This business has been tried before and failed. There was a company in Allentown that tried for many years to successfully recycle latex paint. They went out of business because there was virtually NO demand. The recycled paint is competitively priced, around $20 a gallon. But most people would rather pay that much or more for fresh paint with guaranteed results. So this is a "business" doomed to failure. The paint can and should be used with the HFH projects, but don't expect it to be a big seller among the general public. But bottom line is that county resources were used to start/expand a business that may or may not hire a few people who may or may not be county residents. There is no tax benefit to Norco whatsoever. This bloated DCED has yet to create ONE JOB in the county itself, and now they are throwing money to an out of county business. What a bunch of buffoons!
Council members have commented in multiple meetings that a union rep was not present to support these employees.
What about council members - why didn't they support our county employees, and back the ordinance they approved? They didn't need a union rep present to do that.
9:32, I was at the meeting, but got there late. I will watch the video. If what you say is accurate, this is insane.
9:27, I believe that would be the case.
Yes, please check it out. And it is "ReStore" not "RePlace." My bad. RePlace was another recycling facility operated by Good Shepherd years ago!
Jack Felch is the Exec Director of the Lehigh Conference of Churches. I wrote to him some time ago concerning the homeless crisis and he never bothered to respond. I believe that group was provided with $ to deal with the homeless situation and won't say how it was spent. I consider him and some other members of that organization the new Pharisees.
11:21, I will be checking it out. I must say I am not crazy about their desire (DCED) to keep Council out of the approval process.
Union said it was a county issue not union an Union spoke to their attorneys and said that it wasn't an issue for them to handle. They were told that at a union meeting. Council an Union threw them under the bus!
Council seemed confused about the latex paint project. There was no internal heads up. Donaher and her bloated staff just thought it was a wonderful idea to spend $35 K to support a business in another county.
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