Approving the county’s union contracts was the right thing to do. Employees took concessions that will end up saving the county money, while maintaining their right to collectively bargain for salary increases in the future if our economic outlook improves. This process appeared to go smoothly, and without the political rhetoric we saw on the issue in the state capitol last month.
On the county level, these contracts were passed by a simple voice vote, by conservative and progressive members of the board. On the state level, Republicans who had voted for previous contracts in overwhelming numbers all of a sudden had a change of heart and were unwilling to do the right thing for these working families. (See Joe’s statement on the state contracts here.)
Our working families have been under attack for too long. On the county level, we must continue to support our workers in the public sector, while building our private sector.
