Our 16 union members who work for the Richardson County Highway Department have not seen a pay raise since July 1, 2022. The three elected Richardson County Commissioners have refused to reach an agreement on a new contract. Meanwhile, the Commissioners raised their own salaries by 40% and have spent more than $140,000 in legal fees instead of giving their employees a raise according to the Flatwater Free Press.
Our union members have continued to work daily on behalf of their neighbors even though their labor contract expired more than two years ago. This fact has not been lost on the citizens of Richardson County who turned out in force at an August meeting of the Richardson County Commissioners. So many citizens showed up to address the Commissioners, that that meeting had to be moved to the District Courtroom in Falls City. Video highlights of the meeting are available from News Channel Nebraska.
Community member Ben Steffen of Humboldt told the Commissioners, “We need to get this labor dispute resolved. The pay has to remain competitive or you can’t keep good employees and they are long overdue in that department. They are long overdue on some raises and the money has been wasted on legal fights.”
Community member Neal Kanel of Dawson said, “The Richardson County pay scale is not up to par with adjoining counties. This needs to get handled sooner than later.” But Commissioner Rick Karas said the Commissioners cannot reach an agreement because of our union’s pending case at the CIR. Our union has repeatedly offered to reach a settlement, even while the CIR case is pending, but the Commissioners have simply refused.
On August 15, the CIR issued an order setting the array of counties that will be used to compare salaries in accordance with state law if the Commissioners continue to refuse to reach a voluntary settlement. Now that the Commissioners know the comparable counties that will be used at trial, we hope they will reach a settlement. If not, we are fully prepared to complete the trial at the CIR to make sure our members see a fair wage increase.
You can reach the Richardson County Commissioners by phone to encourage them to reach an agreement:
John Caverzagie – 402-419-9071
Rick Karas – 402-239-8228
Bob Campbell – 402-801-2919