LIMA — The Allen County Sanitary Engineer’s Office has negotiated a contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1770 that will run through 2018.
According to Sanitary Engineer Steve Kayatin, this renegotiated contract, approved Tuesday by county commissioners, will bring benefit levels for the approximately 20 union employees in his office more in line with other county employees.
“The big picture is that everyone, as a team, understands that there were changes that needed to be made to make it more uniform for everybody, insurance being one of them,” he said. “The union agreed to go to a 78-22 split on premiums. They had 80-20 in the contract, but they realized that through the issue-based bargaining process and discussions of the real issues of what was happening, it is in the best interest of our customers to be more consistent with these kinds of expenses.”
Kayatin also noted that the contract would allow for the creation of a five-year developmental program for new employees that would come with lower pay at first as new employees work to receive accreditation.
Kayatin credits the union for their willingness to negotiate on these issues.
“I have to hand it to them for working through these things,” he said.
