Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Agreement reached with Teamsters, but 1254 walks out
The Lincoln County Commissioners negotiate benefits with Teamsters reps Oct. 31.
DAVENPORT-The road to finding a solution for county medical insurance isn't over yet, but an important step was taken Monday. The Lincoln County commissioners agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Teamsters Local 690, which represents the Sheriff's Office's commissioned and non-commissioned deputies Monday, Oct. 31.
Those under the Teamsters umbrella will switch to the Teamsters medical plan at the start of 2023. Deputies unanimously voted in favor of such a transition last week, several sources told The Record-Times.
Therefore, deputies won't be under PEB medical insurance like the rest of the county.
The county will contribute $1,265 a month toward each employee for Teamsters coverage. In return the union agreed to forgo a sunglasses clause in the contract that was negotiated last year, commissioner Rob Coffman said.
"It's a win-win for the county and law enforcement," he said.
While the Halloween agreement with Teamsters was the county's treat, a bit of a trick was thrown into the loop when Local 1254 and 1254CH Union, represented by Scott Davies, refused to bargain in a public meeting Monday. The unions represent the county road department and courthouses.
The commissioners had scheduled bargaining sessions with the Teamsters and Local 1254 for Monday morning, and several road and courthouse employees were present.
Davies opened by asking if the bargaining could occur in an executive session.
"Well, we're in an open public meeting," Coffman responded.
"I won't do it then," Davies remarked. "You have my email."
Employee Jim Buchanan asked what the county was proposing after Davies' statement, to which Coffman said a flat rate of $1,100 per employee is the proposed figure through PEB, but it couldn't be negotiated if the union wasn't going to bargain at that time.
Those under the 1254 umbrella, including Davies, Buchanan and present employees then walked out of the meeting. No contact had been made by the county toward the union after the meeting as of press time.
Meanwhile, the county applied to PEB for medical insurance coverage Tuesday, Nov. 1. No decision has been made yet on contributions for non-union county employees.
"Typically, we try to treat everybody the same," Coffman said. "We haven't come to a resolution on (non-union employees) yet."
Budget work begins Monday, Nov. 7, so the clock is ticking on resolutions for insurance plan coverage figures being reached across the board.
"We're going to have to start plugging those numbers into the budget soon," Coffman said.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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