The Baltimore County labor union that last week refused to accept proposed pension plan changes will leave the final decision to its members after lawmakers launched a persuasive last-ditch effort days before the annual budget is due.
Leaders of the county Federation of Public Employees chapter ? a 1,700-strong group representing correctional officers, public works employees and clerical assistants ? agreed to let its members vote on a proposal to extend the minimum retirement age from 60 to 65 for employees with less than 30 years of service.
Negotiators for the union, the last bargaining group to reach an agreement with county administrators, refused to accept offers that included raises as high as 13 percent for some employees after seven and a half hours of negotiations Thursday, the deadline. But union leaders agreed Wednesday to allow members to vote on the offer, which did not include pay raises for about 800 employees, up or down.
“The county executive wanted to do everything he could to make sure county employees were protected,” said Don Mohler, a spokesman for County Executive Jim Smith. “He didn?t want them to be disadvantaged because of the union?s leadership.”
Union spokesman Terence Cooper said leaders reconsidered after the county agreed to evaluate the 800 employees to determine potential pay raises.
Smith is scheduled to deliver his annual budget message Monday and a union vote was not scheduled by press time. In the interim, Mohler said, the county will work under the assumption the union will ratify the contract.
Officials credited council members Joe Bartenfelder, D-District 6, and John Olszewski Sr., D-District 7, with convincing union officials to reconsider. A longtime union member, Olszewski said he intervened outof “fairness.”
“I?m not in the position to tell them how to vote, I just think they should have a vote,” Olszewski said. “We were fortunate to revive this.”
